Black Day at the Firehouse
by Kingpin1055
Summary: Story that started my fanfic career. Professor Spengler attends a conference at the World Trade Center. Chapter Two uploaded (Finally).
1. Chapter One: Storm on the Horizon

All rights reserved to Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Columbia Pictures. This follows year nineteen (2001) of the _Ghostbusters Omnibus Timeline_ which can be found at .

Support the Twin Towers Fund and the NYPD FDNY Orphans and Widows fund.

_"We must go on...."_

****

Black Day at the Firehouse - Storm on the Horizon

Chapter One

_Monday September 10th, 2001_

7:43AM

New York City

_Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep..._**click**_...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep..._**click click**_...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep..._** thump**_ ...beeep...beeeep...beeee..._

Dr. Peter Venkman groaned and rolled over, and tried to go back to sleep. This was an altogether familiar performance on a Monday morning...or any morning for that matter.

"Too early." Peter grumbled. Suddenly a bright white flash went up and what looked like an Angel with outstretched wings stood before him, the sudden action was such a surprise and Peter yelped and tumbled out of bed. The angel was in fact his wife of the previous nine years, Dana Barrett Venkman who along with Peter and his two children were taking a family vacation in New York to visit Peter's former comrades within the company known as 'Ghostbusters'.

"Morning." Dana greeted with an amused smile.

"You know how annoying that is?" Peter replied, narrowing his one open eye meanacingly at her.

"I have a vague idea." She replied.

"It's bad enough I need to get up _before_ nine in the morning...but when you do that I always end up on the floor." He replied as he pulled himself up off of the floor.

"I know..." Dana replied. "But don't I always give you something back in return?" Dana asked, prompting a slight laugh and a grin from Peter even with him having landed on the floor minutes ago.

"Oh do you ever..." He replied. "So...what are you planning on doing today?" He asked as he sat down on the bed and ran a hand through his ruffled and strangely still-brown hair...some suspected it should've started going grey by now.

"I was thinking of taking Jessica and Oscar out on a sightseeing trip this morning before bringing them to the Firehouse this afternoon." Dana explained.

"I see..." Peter replied. "I'm not sure if stopping by the 'museum would be a good idea."

"I'm still not sure if taking him to see the place they used as the exterior of the museum in your second movie would be good." Dana agreed.

"Ah well...it'd never hurt to check?" Peter grinned prompting a slight scowl from his wife.

"You give him some very bad habits at times Peter." She replied with a hint of humour in her voice.

"They're the only habits I have to give!" Peter replied in his defence. He then stood up and followed Dana out of the room and into the main conversation area of the hotel room. Sat at a breakfast table near the window which overlooked 45th Street were a boy (around twelve or thirteen) with tied back black hair and a greet hoodie, sat across him was a girl (around seven or eight) with wild brown hair ( a strangly wild mix of Peter's and Dana's styles) with a red shirt over white T-shirt. Both of the children were eating breakfast and studying magazines as a copy of both the Daily Bugle and the New York Times lay unread on a green arm chair near the door of the hotel room. The boy was thirteen-year old Oscar Wallace Venkman, the child from Dana's previous relationship to violinist Andre Wallace, the girl on the other hand was eight year old Jessica Venkman, the Venkmans' sole genetic offspring. The Venkmans had become married in June of 1992, mere months after the unhappy break-up of the company Peter had helped to found, the Ghostbusters. However, ten years on, a return to ghostbusting, capture of the Burmuda Triangle and several jokes at his age later, Peter Venkman found himself once again to be CEO of Ghostbusters International and Incoporated, having celebrated a successful return of the four original Ghostbusters and renewed fame...even with McShayne having spouted for a half hour on how they had simply conned the city again...though...a vanished Statue of Liberty was hard even for the mayor to explain...the Ghostbuster had officially reformed in late 1997 and word was in the air that Venkman wanted to truely expand this time around.

"So kids..." Peter grinned. "Ready to go see the Big Apple?" Peter asked.

"Yeah." Oscar replied as he rolled his eyes.

"Sure." Jessica replied, not looking up.

"Hrmpth...nineteen years ago I had the ears of the youth of America beckoning to hear my voice." Peter replied. "They were practically falling on me as I left the studio." Peter replied with a smirk. Dana rolled her eyes with an amused smirk of her own.

"There are some people who'd call that child stalking." Oscar replied flippantly.

"Oscar Wallace...so help me I will cut the TV cable when we get home." Dana replied and moved off to check one of the bags she'd be taking with them on the sightseeing trip. "Okay...do you two have everything?"

"Yes..." Oscar replied.

"Yep." Jessica replied and they both climbed out of the chairs and walked over to Dana. Both of them carried rucksacks on their backs which held food...drinks...cameras and...in case they got lost...a map of Manhattan.

"So where are you going to first?" Peter asked as he picked up a cup of coffee which had been left for him on sideboard which held the kettle.

"We're going to try do some of the stuff in Midtown first...Rockerfeller Plaza...Times Square...and Planet Hollywood to see those costumes from the second movie...then the Empire State Building...tomorrow we're hoping to do the Statue of Liberty...the Harbour Cruise and the World Trade Center..."

"Sounds fun." Peter replied and wiggled his eyebrows.

"Say Hello to Egon for me...we'll see you there this afternoon." She then planted a kiss on his cheek and they left the hotel room.

* * *

Chapter Two

_"...And in occult news..."_The news reader chuckled. _ "...a full turn out is expected at the 'Theories, Studies and Investigation of Paranormal Entites' conference scheduled at the World Trade Center tomorrow..."_

"Hey professor." Garrett Miller called up from his wheel chair. "Isn't that the thing you're going to tomorrow?"

"That would be correct...it's one of the annual opportunities I'll have to meet with minds of similar dedication to the science behind paranormal investigation and elimination." Professor Egon Spengler explained, in his hand was a small stack of notes which Garrett could only assume was a speech.

"Are all of them all gonna be as dedicated as you?" Kylie Griffin asked, only four months before she had given birth to her and Eduardo's daughter, Conchita Rivera who at present was being minded by Eduardo's sister in law Beth and her son Kevin...much to Eduardo's brother's chargrin.

"Well..." Egon paused. "There will be a majority of people who are as academic and dedicated as us..."

"There gonna be any people like Torgo here?" Garrett quipped.

"Hey!" Eduardo Rivera protested as he dropped the Playstation game controller he had previously been holding in preparation of a game with Garrett.

"Unfortunately...like the Internet has become these days...the conference hasn't been without it's more 'wildcard' attendees...I remember distinctly last year that someone brought a Class III mortal possessor...the results of which were so bad the less explained the better I feel."

"...and we repeat our top stories..." Eduardo picked up the remote control and flipped channels...on TV Bill Murray and Dan Aykroyd were looking at something off-screen...the program made Egon chuckle lightly.

__

"There it is, on the ceiling." Dr. Ray Stantz, portrayed by Comedian and actor Dan Aykroyd, directed. The green ghost affectionately and infamously known as Slimer was circling a large chandelier that was hung in the middle of the ballroom.  
  
_"That's the one that got me." _Dr.Peter Venkman, portrayed by Comedian and actor Bill Murray, replied; like he'd been picking out a mugger in a police line-up. They moved out from the heavy drape.

__

"All right, boys. Ready? Throw it!" Ray whispered, both Egon (portrayed by Comedian and actor Harold Ramis) and Ray activated their Proton Guns, Peter a moment later. Three orange beams shot forth and towards the ghost. Suddenly there was a huge explosion of sparks and a blur of green, the Ghostbusters had snagged something alright, but it wasn't a ghost. There was a jangle and clatter of glass and a great crash as the chandelier crashed to the ground, crushing one of the tables in the large ballroom. The partially melted frame rocked back and fourth a few times.

"Don't you guys get paid for that anymore?" Eduardo asked.

"The staff members at Sony believe they've paid us so much in royalties for the cartoon and the movie series that they didn't need to pay any more when our contract expired...I heard Venkman was trying to get it renewed...with some minor turbulence from Bill Murray's lawyer." Kylie stuck out her tongue and blew a raspberry at the on-screen Venkman as played by Bill Murray. "Yes...quite." Egon replied as he cleaned his glasses on the edge of his blue sweater and walked out of the room.

"Anyone up for pancakes?" Dr. Ray Stantz,engineer and resident occultist. All three of the gathered teenage Ghostbusters' faces went slightly white...aparrantly Dr. Venkman's horror stories concerning Ray's cooking had eventually made their way to the newer generation of Ghostbusters.

Chapter Three

"...while there have been activities of extreme paranormal activity over the past twenty years...and indeed before hand there have been recorded incidents of a noted decrease in paranormal activity dating as far back as 1890 and pehapse even further." Egon studied some more of his notes. "Based on this evidence and the records made from these events we are able to create a theory that any major paranormal event will be proceeded by a period where little paranormal activity will be recorded...a period of roughly twenty or so years..."

"Egon? Are you in here?" It was a female voice, which belonged to Janine Melnitz Spengler, Egon Spengler's wife of four years. She poked her head through the door which seperated the Spengler's bedroom from the rest of the Firehouse. Following the reformation of Ghostbusters International the Firehouse receive some reconstruction work on the third floor, the original crew barracks which had been used as a bunk room by the Ghostbusters had gone through some slight reconstruction work. Sat at the front of the building and taking up the arched window was the room now designated as the Spengler's bedrom. On the allyside of the Firehouse stood a small a pair of small bedrooms which were reserved for the two year old children of Egon Spengler and Janine Melnitz. The room opposite the childrens' room was the spare guest room which was slightly smaller due to an alcove which had been set aside for the brass firepole which had been the building's selling point for a nineteen year younger Ray Stantz.

"I'm in here." Egon replied as he looked up. "Is there something wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing...just letting you know the organisers phoned to say that they're expecting you at the conference tomorrow at eight 'o' clock." She informed him

"Thank you." Egon replied and Janine began to walk away...but a sudden crash from downstairs made her quicken her steps. Raised voices drifting up the portal for the firepole and the spital staircase made her take the staircase two at a time.

"Oh you can clear that up for a start!" The edges of Egon's mouth turned up in a smirk when he heard her rasied voice.

Chapter Four

The large double doors at the front of the Firehouse swung open and the body of a shining white 1959 Cadilliac with an extremy eccentric roof orientation pulled smoothly into the garage of the former Hook and Ladder No. 8 Firestation.

"How was the..." Janine began as the Extreme Ghostbusters began to climb out of the Ecto-1.

"I never want to go to a bust like that again man!" Eduardo fumed, he was dripping from head to toe in blue slime.

"...I see you really have taken over Dr. Venkman's role in this business." Janine replied as Eduardo trudged a slimey blue trail to the staircase as Kylie and Roland talked about the ghost.

"What is it with explosive ectoplasm?" Kylie asked.

"With the amount of stuff that ghost leaked all over the floor we could start our own slum clearance team." Garrett quipped as he slid along.

"I think 'secreted' is the word you're looking for, Garrett." Roland added.

"Knock knock." A voice replied from the door. Janine looked up and could see Peter rapping his knuckles against the small portal set within the larger garage doors.

"Hmpth...what brings you here...Dr. Venkman?" She asked as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Aww...c'mon Janine." Peter replied in a slightly childish voice. "Isn't it about time we dropped the whole 'Dr. Venkman' thing?" He asked with a lopsided grin.

"Why? Afraid it'll damage your ego?" She smirked.

"No...but seeing as you're technically my sister in law I think we should have a much more...relaxed...friendship." He replied as he entered the garage.

"_Your_ sister in law? Janine asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well...Egon never sees his brother...so I feel we all are his family." Peter replied.

"Why...is the great Peter Venkman finally caring about someone other then himself?" Janine mused with a raised eyebrow. They both then laughed and shared an awkward hug, that of a pair of friends who have just met up after a long period where they hadn't seen each other.

"How is the big guy holding up?" Peter asked.

"He's as scientifically minded as ever." Janine rolled hey eyes but had kept an amused tone in her voice. "He's going to some big paranormal conferenc they're holding at the World Trade Center."

"Yep...sounds like Egon." Peter agreed as they walked over to Janine's desk. "And how are the kids?" Peter asked.

"Jonathan Cristopher and Eden are okay...they cause an a lot of hassle for only being two years old." Janine replied.

"Sounds like the stories I've heard from a certain physicist's mother." Peter replied flippantly. "And the younger team?"

"They're okay...with Conchita at four months now she and Eduardo are starting to think about getting a bigger apartment."

"I knew Dana had asked me to ask about something." Peter replied as he clicked his fingers. "Speaking of the guys...where are they?"

"Winston and Ray should be upstairs, there was...an 'accident' with some of the coffee and Ray's pancakes." Janine replied with a slightly tired expression on her face.

"Ah." Peter replied, he knew all too well about Ray's pancakes...he'd been the one who'd passed the stories onto the younger generation. "Well...I'm just gonna pop upstairs..." Peter replied and he walked over to the staircase, careful to not step on the blue slime that led from the Ecto-1 to the staircase.

* * *

"Slimer...that is the last time you eat the leftovers of the pancakes unless I say so...understood?" Ray asked, he was less angry then he sounded...it was mostly for effect. Slimer burbled something that sounded like 'Sorry' and continued to watch as Winston and Ray cleared up the traces of green slime along the walls and ceiling of the recreation room on the Second Floor of the Firehouse.

"'Bout time you guys did that." Peter quipped as he climbed the staircase with his hands in his pockets.

"Peter!" Ray greeted happily, moments later Slimer's frown vanished and was replaced with a smile as he lunged at Peter.

"Oh no you don't!" Peter replied holding up a finger in a chiding tone and Slimer skidded to a halt in mid air. "Slimer if you so much as touch me today I will grab one of the Proton Packs from downstairs and put you into the Containment Unit." Slimer's face fell for a moment.

"He's only kidding Slimer." At Ray's voice Slimer's face beamed and he hugged Peter against the ghostbuster's warning.

"You are in for a world of pain Ray...so help me." Peter muttered as the collar of his t-shirt turned a sickly green. Near the kitchen Winston broke out laughing.

"Anyway...it's good to see you Peter." Ray grinned as he handed him a towel. "What are you doing here?"

"Well..." Peter accepted the towel and began to clean the excess slime off his shirt and t-shirt. "It's a break from school in LA...some sorta scare...place'll be closed for a few weeks...so I thought i'd take the family on a trip to the Big Apple." Peter explained.

"So Dana and the kids are here as well?" Winston asked.

"If you mean 'here' as in in the city...they yep...they're out sightseeing...and should be here this afternoon...but I want to say one thing...we're trying to let Oscar decide how involved he is with Andre...so please don't mention him...bad enough the kid was nearly possessed by a kitten hating tyrant without us deciding for him how to approach that deadbeat who ran out on Oscar and Dana." Peter replied.

"Sure thing." Winston replied confidantly.

"So how is the life in LA?" Ray asked as they walked over to the TV area where Garrett Miller, Roland Jackson and Kylie Griffin were currently absorbed with something on the TV.

"Oh...not too bad...you kinda get used to the 'vacant stares' and terrible actors after a while." Peter replied with mock honesty.

"Kids...we have a bit of a surprise visit." Ray announced and all three younger Ghostbusters turned to see Ray, Winston and Peter approaching.

"Hey kids." Peter greeted.

"Good to see you again Dr. Venkman." Roland greeted.

"Likewise." Garrett added.

"Hey." Kylie greeted.

"Cool...just don't call me Dr. Venkman, okay? I hate formalities." Peter replied with a grin.

"Really?" Winston asked with a wry grin and a raised eyebrow, Ray also replied with slight mock bewilderment.

"I count three of you...where's Egon and that latino kid?" Peter asked.

"_Eduardo_ is having a shower after our last bust." Kylie explained, adding emphasis to her partner's name.

"Slime huh?" Peter asked. The three younger Ghostbusters nodded. "Yep...I know the feeling." Peter replied as he scooped some slime off of his shoulder and flicked it off his hand, causing a long trail to connect it with his hand.

"Egon's upstairs practicing his speech for a conference tomorrow." Ray explained.

"So Janine told me." Peter replied. "Say...you don't know where a guy could get a clean shirt...this thing's starting to smell from Slimer's 'hug'."

Chapter Five

Janine looked up from her desk when she heard a knocking on the door, she got up and walked over to see who it might've been, customers...when they actually came to the Firehouse as opposed to phone them...usually just strode into the buulding. When she opened the door she was greeted with a friendly sight, Dana with two children.

"Dana! It's good to see you." Janine greeted and they both shared a friendly hug which was less forced then the one she shared with Dana's husband.

"You as well..." Dana returned with a smile, she then turned to allow Janine to see her children. "You know Oscar...of course..and here's our daughter...Jessica." Dana replied.

"You have your father's eyes...and hair." Janine commented with an amused smile. "Boy...Ray's gonna be thrilled to see you two..." Janine's smile faltered slightly. "...and I bet you're gonna get on well with the twins." To Janine's relief, she apparantly wasn't the only one to be slightly worried at the through of the combination of the Spengler and Venkman children. "Just go up those stairs while I talk to your mother...we'll be up there in a few minutes." Janine explained.

"K." Jessica replied and the two siblings walked off towards the staircase to the floor above.

"How are things with Egon?" Dana asked.

"They're good...he's as involved with the scientific community as ever...though...he does make the effort to spend time with the kids...he's already got them onvolved with some smaller projects with mixed results." Janine explained.

"So I'd heard from his letters to Peter...what's this I've been hearing about a want to build a volcano?" Dana asked with a look of amused puzzlement on her face.

"Don't ask...Egon got onto the subject of one of his science fair projects and the twins have decided to follow him in his footsteps." Janine replied as they reached her desk. "You want some coffee?" She asked.

"Sure...I've been walking around all morning and I could use a break." Dana agreed and she sat down in the chair opposite Janine's desk as Janine walked over to a small table near the water cooler and began to make some coffee.

"So how have you and Peter been in LA?" Janine asked.

"We've been good...he's currently thinking about packing in his agency...he says he's restless and wants to pull 'Betsy' out of the display case." Dana explained.

"He still calls his Proton Gun 'Betsy'? Janine asked with an amused smirk.

"I can't do anything about it." Dana replied. "Ever since the guys got back together four years ago and beat that thing...the Burmuda Triangle? He's been wanting to get back into action...he's even been talking about starting a franchise in LA."

"Must be serious." Janine joked as she brought two cups of coffee over and sat down opposite Dana at her desk. "And how are the kids doing?"

"Well..." Dana paused to drink come of her coffee. "Oscar is doing okay...he's the average American teenager...or will be...he's in a band...has friends...the usual...though I have to wonder if the health alert which closed the school wasn't in some way related to him...he picks up the worst habbits from his father..." Dana paused.

"Sorry....I didn't mean to drag _that_ up." Janine replied, realising the reason for Dana's sudden halt.

"No...it's okay...if Andre had wanted anything to do with Oscar...he would've asked...speaking of which...if Peter didn't tell you...I would prefer if we didn't talk about Andre, Peter and I feel that it would be better if we left Oscar to make his choices concerning his _real _father...even if he hasn't wanted anything to do with Oscar." Dana explained in quieter tones.

"Peter did say something like that...how's Jessica doing?" Janine asked, Dana; thankful for the sudden change of subject placed the cup of coffee on the desk.

"She's doing very well...her grades are good for her age and she's got plenty of healthy hobbies...she even gets along well with Oscar...it's a near miracle." Dana replied with a smile.

"A Venkman who's a hard worker and has good grades?" Janine asked with an amused smile. "Must;ve broken the mould." Dana smiled in agreement.

"Indeed...I'm sure Peter is secretly envious and worries that Jessica will turn out to be smarter then him."

"Wouldn't be too difficult." Janine replied and both women broke into laughter.

* * *

"As if on cue!" peter replied in mock surprise as Oscar and Jessica climbed the staircase. "I present the current members of the Venkman clan." he got up and almost pushed Oscar and Jessica into the TV area to meet the six Ghostbusters and newly arrived Spengler children. Even at the age of two the similarities with their parents were unmistakable, Johnathan Christopher Spengler, dressed in a purple shirt with the Red Ranger on it was sat on the floor currently dismantling an alarm clock. His hair was fire red but had a squiggle of a tail and a slight curl to it which resembled his fathers', however a pair of emerald eyes and the colour of his hair showed his mother's influence. Sat next to him and observing the parts that Johnathan Christopher had previously disconnected and dressed in a type of dungerees was a girl. Unlike her brother she had blond hair and blue eyes, her father's influence; however her mother's influence was her hair which had a striking similarity to the style her mother currently had...whether it was by simple coincidence or if that was truely the natural way it went for Janine.

"Guys...it's been a while but I'd like you to meet Oscar and Jessica...my two kids." Peter introduced the two Venkmans to the gathered group. Winston and Ray traded a knowing look while the three younger Ghostbusters studied the two children. On the floor the Spengler children carried on regardless for a few minutes before looking up and studying the Venkman children with a look of curiosity Peter knew all too well.

* * *

"Well guys...We must go." Peter replied with a grin.

"Will you be stopping by tomorrow?" Ray asked.

"Yeah...Dana and the kids have another day out on the town." Peter explained as he ruffled Jessica's hair. "But I'll be here all day and they're stopping by again tomorrow afternoon.

Chapter Six

_Tuesday September 11th, 2001_

7:23AM

New York City

_Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep..._click...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...**thump**_...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep...Beep..._** thump**...**crack**_ ...beeep...beeeep...beeee..._ Peter peered at hgis alarm clock, the digital numbers flickered for a few seconds as he inspected the crack which was forming on the clear plastic covering the clock face.

"That can't be good." He muttered as he pulled himself out of bed, pulled on a dressing gown and walked over to the window. As he stared out of the seventh floor window of the Brentford Hotel he watched a few yellow cabs roll by on the street below through the grey morning light.

"Morning." Dana greeted from the doorway with a cup of coffee, she then handed the steaming cup to peter who accepted it.

"My timing's screwd up...changing from LA time to New York time has sent a shock to my sleep system." Peter explained.

"And that's your...'professional' opinion?" She asked with an amused smirk.

"You know of any other?" He asked and she walked over, circling her hands around his waist.

"You know...no matter how cool it is in LA...Miami Beach...Hollywood...the babes." Peter replied, receiving a playful jab to his kidney. "I actaully miss living in New York." He replied.

"Well." Dana began to reply. "No smog...not so many traffic snarls...you don't get gun totting maniacs in Central Park anymore." She continued.

"Heh...like anyone'd be stupid enough to mess with four guys packing nuclear accelerators when they went through the park." Peter replied with a grin, he then looked down at Dana. "You guys packed and ready to head out?"

"We'll be in an hour." Dana explained.

"Right...well...I'm gonna go get dressed...head over to the Firehouse...Egon's got me doing some things for him around there while he's downtown."

"Right." Dana replied in understanding, she then broke away from her husband so he could walk past and into the hotel room's bathroom.

* * *

7:45AM

Ray exited the Firehouse's kitchen with a bown in hand, following behind him was a small boy or no older then five years old, his hair was a thick tangle of a mix of chestnut brown and Ray's red and was so unruly you'd think he'd just woken up, perched on the child's head were a pair of antique aviatar goggles. As they moved over to the dining table with it's mixture of chairs they spotted Egon doing up a red and black tie at the end of the table.

"Morning." Ray greeted as Egon performed a double loop in the knot.

"Good morning Raymond, Eric." Egon greeted.

"Morning Dr. Spengler." Eric greeted.

"I assume Mrs. Stantz is out on a trip?" Egon asked with an amused smirk and a knowing glint in his blue eyes.

"Yeah...she's out of town...and seeing as I help buy groceries here I might as well make use of the stuff that's not gonna get eaten before it's sell by date." Ray replied and then ate a spoonful of cereal.

"Indeed." Egon agreed, his tie was now done up and he was shrugging on his dark blue suit jacket. "I'm sorry if I have to cut this short..." Egon paused as he checked his briefcase. "...but something's come up at the conference...they need me there a bit earlier...they said it was something to do with timing."

"Sure thing Egon." Ray replied.

"Let Peter know what to do...I doubt it'll be a problem." Egon added as he closed his briefcase.

"Watch over your more dangerous experiments in the lab and keep Slimer out of there." Ray recited with a grin.

"Exactly." Egon replied with a thankful smile. "Thank you for stopping by either way Raymond."

"Hey no problem...I was talking with 'Zedd how we should start some sorta rota thing...you guys can't keep living in the Firehouse forever you know...one of these days John and Eden are gonna out grow that room upstairs." Ray replied.

"Indeed...we'll discuss arranging a rota for people looking after the Firehouse...and I'll try find a moment to discuss the idea of finding a bigger home with Janine." Egon agreed. "However...I must dash....the Ecto-1 is at your disposal." Egon replied as he walked over to the staircase.

"Goodluck!" Ray shouted.

* * *

Janine got up fromher desk and followed Egon over to the door.

"You got everything? I'm not driving down there to bring anything you've forgotten?" She mock chided.

"I have." Egon replied.

"Goodluck...knock them dead." Janine replied and gave her husband a goodluck kiss on the cheek.

"I should hope not...the last thing I'd want is to encarcerate my former peers in the Containment Unit." Egon replied sternly...but then smiled. "Though the idea is tempting with some... I will see you tonight Janine." He added and he opened the small portal set into one of the two large garage doors and walked out onto the corner of Varrick and N.Moore. Janine watched as he raised a hand and a nearby taxi slowed to a halt. She continued to watch as he climbed into the car, exchanged a few words with the driver and the car pulled away from the curb.

Chapter Seven

"The World Trade Center please." Egon asked as he leaned forward so the driver could hear.

"Sure thing, pal." The cabbie replied in a cheerful tone and shifted the gear. Egon watched as the brick and stone structure of the former Hook and Ladder No.8 Firehouse slowly slid out of sight as the car moved through the light traffic towards Downtown and the Financial District. Egon checked his watch, the analogue face informed him it was now eight 'o' clock on the dot. He leaned back in the black leather seat of the taxi and watched as the yellow of taxis, white of buses and pale blue stripes of NYPD police cruisers ran together as the car picked up speed as it made it's way onto Sixth Avenue.

"Hey buddy, do you mind if I ask you a question?" The cabbie asked from the driver's seat. The corners of Egon's mouth twinged into a ghost of a smile at the irony of the choice of the driver's words.

"Be my guest." Egon replied, seeing where the conversation might lead.

"Are you one of them? You know...the Ghostbusters?"

"You are correct." Egon replied.

"Jeez...wait 'til the boys at the garage hear this...I have a gen-u-ine Ghostbuster sat in my cab...you're...Dr...no...Professor Spengler...right?" The cabbie asked, taking a brief moment to look over his shoulder at Egon.

"Correct again." Egon replied with a slightly bemused expression.

"Yeah...I'd just like to say me and the family's always been rooting for you guys...real shame what the Mayor then did and what the current one's been doing...me and the family ain't fans of politics...no sir." The cabbie explained.

"Thank you for your confidence." Egon replied. The taxi had just passed Duane Street, just two streets from Chambers Street and the edge of the TriBeCa district.

"Could I ask a favour of you?" The cabbie asked.

"Depends on the favour," Egon replied with understandable hestation. "But do speak and I shall judge whether or not your request is a reasonable one."

"Okay...would it be possible if you could sign this for my kid...Jimmy...he's a real big fan of yours...been one ever since the TV show was shown in reruns on Nickleodeon." The cabbie replied, one of his hands left the wheel and went around in the glove compartment, he then extracted what looked liked an oversized deck of cards and Egon was amused to see it was a stack of photos of famous New York celebrities. Near the top was a publicity photo of the Ghostbusters and beneath it a publicity photo for each Ghostbuster. The cabbie selected the photo displaying Egon and handed it through the gap between the driver and front passenger seats.

"Are you sure you're not mistaking me for Dr. Venkman?" Egon asked as he extracted a biro from his jacket pocket.

"Nah...I know you're the one he's the fan you make that out to Jimmy?"

"I would be glad to." Egon replied as he scribbled a quick message of greeting plus his signature on the bottom corner of the photograph. To Egon's slight amusement the photo was the exact same one he'd seen in the Ugly Parlour during his short stay with Peter and Ray in Boo York. Once he'd finished writing he placed the pen back in his pocket and handed the photo back to the driver. "Finished." He replied.

"Thank you so much Professor Spengler...this is really going to make his day." The cabbie replied.

"I'm glad it will make your son happy." Egon replied, he then turned his attention back to the outside world for a few minutes, in the distance but approaching at a good pace were the towering structures of 1 and 2 World Trade Center, the world famous Twin Towers. The cab pulled up at the north-east corner of the large block which the center occupied.

"Here we go...World Trade Center." The cabbie announced and Egon climbed out of the taxi and walked over to the driver's window.

"How much will that cost?" He asked.

"Thirty-five, fifty." Egon handed over the appropriate cash and stooped down to pick up his brief case and trech coat (in case it rained).

"Say...if you ever need a quick cab..." The cabbie began but paused as he reached over to the dashboard, he then returned witha business card. "Just give me a holla..."

"I will keep that in mind." Egon replied politely as he pocketed the card.

"Enjoy the conference Professor Spengler." The cabbie replied.

"I will." Egon returned and watched as the taxi pulled away. He stood there for a second, catching his breath; he then looked up at the Twin Towers for a second. With that achieved he then looked back at ground level and began to walk into the main plaza between the two towers. As Egon walked he studied the area, it had been some time since his last visit. In recent memory he had only been there twice, first in 1985 when they'd been tackling a nasty monster which had resembled a cyclopean octopus...like something from a Lovecraft story...and that case had led to him being blown off of the side of Tower 1 and had nearly plumetted to his death 110 floors below, however a prompt Winston who at the time had been piloting Ecto-2 had spared Egon an early demise. The second and more recent visit had occurred in 1988 in the height of the Vigo incident...a peculier case of an angry corporate worker causing objects in his office to suffer from spontanius combustion due to a slime deposit in his office. He looked across the the centre of the plaze where a giant green and gold bronze sculture known soley as the 'Globe' stood above a large fountain, people chatted and sat around the fountain as a light breeze swept through the area. He walked towards Tower 2, the tower south of the one he'd nearly fallen from and made his way to the lobby entrance. As he reached the large glass doors he pulled out an identification badge as he pushed his way through one of the rotating doors. He crossed the lobby and joined a line of employees as they were going in to work. Once he'd reached the security guard at the front of the line he handed him his identification badge and patiently waited as the guard studied the photo and then Egon.

"Good Morning Professor Spengler, I've been told to instruct you to use one of the express elevators...they're expecting you in the conference area on the 110th Floor." He explained and pointed at the bank of express elevators.

"Thank you." Egon nodded his thanks and he walked over to the elevators, he then pressed the 'Up' button and patiently waited, minutes later one of the sets of double doors slid open and Egon stepped into the available express elevator with a few other staff workers. They each pressed the button for their corresponding floor and waited as the doors slid shut, blocking the view of the impressive lobby of Tower 2.

Chapter Eight

"Janine, me and Eric are going out to Midtown Comics...we shouldn't be too long." Ray spoke as he lead his son down the staircase and over to the Ecto-1.

"Does Winston know that you're going out?" She asked as she walked over to the car from her desk.

"Yep...not that there's anything 'Zedd can't handle really...besides Peter will be here soon and I doubt we'd need many more hands until the kids get in at nine." He explained as he and Eric climbed into the Ecto-1.

"Okay...have a good trip." Janine wished.

"If all goes well I can pick up the latest issue of Captain Steel...see you later." With that said he pressed a small button above the dashboard and the large barn style doors creaked open, allowing Ecto-1 exit onto the streets of Manhattan. Ray pulled the car out onto the curb, waited to see if there was any traffic and then turned left and then eventually made a right so he was moving towards Midtown.

"Ray off to the comic store?" A voice asked, startling Janine.

"Peter!" She nearly yelped, releasing a sudden breath. "Don't do that...what are you trying to do...kill me?" She chided.

"Hmm...tempting..." Peter replied with a grin. "Where's Ray off to at this ungodly hour?" He asked as he entered the garage, he was dressed in a pair of jeans and a frayed T-shirt which was coverd in a grubby check shirt.

"He's going to Midtown Comics with Eric...on their weekly comic run I guess." Janine replied curtly as they walked back to her desk. "And what brought you out into the world at this hour...I thought people like you didn't get up before noon."

"Jetlag from LA...been giving me hell with my sleep patterns...I wonder if I'd need to compensate for the loss of sleep?" He mock mused, gaining a pair of rolling eyes from Janine for all that it was worth. "Anyway..." He replied as he leaned onto the desk "Where's Winston, Egon...the children...and Tully."

"Winston...last I saw...was upstairs in the rec room...Egon's gone to the World Trade Center...something came up." Janine began.

"Damn...I so wanted to pretend that I was gonna make Slimer ruin his suit." Peter replied. "Go on."

"The kids are in the rec room with Winston...though Charlene's currently with Kaila...and as for Louis..." She paused. "He's attending a legal conference in Atlanta...he'll be back in a few days."

"Gosh...Louis in Atlanta...bout time he got out somewhere y'know?" Peter asked.

"Bite me." Janine replied, then looking up at him with a smile. "I will never forgive Harold Ramis for that...anyway..." Janine paused as she looked about the stacks of paper on her desk. "Egon told me to hand this to you...it details everything he wants you to do here." She handed the sheet to Peter.

"Stop Slimer...watch tests in " Peter nodded. "Did everyone get one of these?"

"No." She smiled. "It was made specifically for you...Dr. V." Janine allowed herself as smile as Peter's face changed to a slight scowl.

"One of the reasons I wanted to fire you so much...Miss Janine." He replied and walked over to the staircase.

* * *

"Morning Peter." Winston greeted from the sofa as Peter walked away from the staircase landing. Sat in front of Winston on the floor were the Spengler twins, John and Eden and a african-american girl with a pair of yellow bracelets on each arm and a pony tail who looked about eight years old, this was Winston's daughter Charlene.

"Winston...babysitting? I thought that was beneath you." Peter commented with amusement.

"With Ray and Egon out...someone's got to look after these children..." Winston replied honestly. Peter then sat down on the sofa next to Winston.

"What you watching?" Peter asked.

"Channel Six News." Winston replied.

"Is April still doing it?" Peter asked, receiving a dissapproving look from Winston.

"Pete, you're married." He replied in a condesending tone.

"A guy can pretend can't he?" Peter replied with his infamous chesire grin as Winston rolled his eyes. On screen was the weasly form of Vernon Fenwick, he was reporting on some robbery in the diamond district which had been foiled by what they were calling the turtles...what they had been calling turtles for twenty years...which is why people usually watched Channel Six news with more then a bit of skepticism. Channel Six news eventually came to an end and a cheesy old horror film began to play.

* * *

Ray rested his hand on the driver-side door as he waited, the traffic on Twenty Third Street was snarled up badly near Madison Square Park. As Ray and Eric waited in the car he took a look at the car's dashboard clock, it read '8:20AM', they'd been stuck in slow moving traffic for nearly ten minutes.

"Hey buddy! Move that piece of junk!" Someone shouted from behind as they blared their horn. Ray leaned out of the window to see a irate driver in a Chrysler waving his fist wildly.

"Hey! There's kids present here!" Ray scowled as he chasticed the man, Ray then pulled his head back into tha Ecto-1's interior. "Sorry." Ray replied with an apologetic smirk.

"It's okay dad." Eric replied, he was currently examining one of the contents of Ecto's glove compartment, a fold up map of Manhattan. "How long are we gonna be waiting?" He asked.

"No idea Eric...no idea." Ray replied with an tired sigh as they crept forward a bit closer towards Madison Square Park, up ahead he could make out a road working crew. Ray reached forward and switched on Ecto-1's little-used AM/FM radio and tuned it to one of the stations.

__

"...and here's Bill with the traffic report." The DJ announced. A few moments of silence were replaced with what sounded like a muted helicopter.

__

"Heavy traffic is expected on Fifth Avenue, the F.D.R., Park Avenue and Wall work near Madison Square Park has slowed traffic down to a crawl...they're hoping to get the flow moving quickly again by mid afternoon...minor work at the Holland Tunnel has caused slight delay for people heading out to Jersey...that's expected to be finished tomorrow...and that concludes the traffic report for the hour..."

"This is going to be a long day..." Ray mutted as they crept forward again.

Chapter Nine

Egon stepped out of the elevator and checked his watch, he had arrived at the center at around five past eight in the morning and now his watch told him it was quarter past eight, some of that time had been taken up as people had climbed into and out of the elevator car during it's journey up Tower 2. Satisfied that he was there in good time he strode over to a pair of glass doors that seperated the conference area from the connecting lobby area. As soon as Egon entered the conference area he was engulfed by a large amount of activity, set up near what could be known as the back of the room (Which commanded an impressive view of Tower 1) was a small stage area and in front of that were several rows of tables with chairs for the attendees. Near the front of the room to Egon's right was the Maitre 'd's station where a small table had been set up one man was going through a log of names of attendees they were expecting, a woman in a black suit was leaning over his shoulder as she listened to the man with the ledger talk, a few minutes later the woman looked up, said something to the man with the ledger and approached Egon.

"Professor Spengler...it is good to finally meet you." The woman shook hands with Egon. "I'm Samantha Matthews...I'm responsible for making sure all of the attendees are here, talking in the available slots and that they're all happy." She explained.

"It is good to meet you as well, talking on the telephone doesn't allow for much of a real first impression." Egon replied.

"Definately." Samantha agreed.

"You said you needed to talk to me about a slight change in the arranged events." Egon moved forward to the point.

"Yes...another one of our guest speakers...an expert from Arkham had phoned us a bit less the two hours ago explaining that there was some kind of problem with their plane and they were going to be delayed by two hours...we were wondering if you would mind being moved to the quarter past nine slot.

"I'll be opening the conference with my talk?" Egon asked with a raised eyebrow.

"If you don't have any problems with that...we're expecting most of the attendees to arrive from between eight and eight thirty." Samantha explained.

"I would be honoured." Egon replied.

"Thankyou Professor Spengler...you don't know how much it's relieved me...after having to deal with one potential maverick already...I didn't want to have to deal with another problem so soon." Samantha replied with a relieved smile on her face.

"Maverick? I remember last year's conference...what happened?" Egon asked.

"One of our...later...talk attendees was going through some of his equipment when one of them began to leak something that made smoke when it touched the floor...I should've known someone with the name 'Basingham' would be a little bit odd.

"Basingham?" Egon echoed. "As in Dr. Alfred Basingham?"

"Why yes...have you meet with hime before?" Samantha asked with a surprised look on her face.

"To say that would be a major understatement." Egon replied. "He has caused a lot of trouble with my colleagues and I...I suggest that if he's talking about conjuring demons or performing a seance then you pay him no attention...in both cases he caused more trouble then he realised."

"Oh." Samantha replied.

"Dr. Spengler!" A voice which sounded a bit like the late Vincent Price's shouted from over Samantha's shoulder.

"_Professor_...Spengler." Samantha corrected, Egon could see her eyes narrowing slightly as Dr. Alfred Basingham approached, he was dressed in a brown suit, complete with jungle explorer's hat, on his face was a expression Egon could only assume was meant to be a smile, the man's black hair had begun to go grey near the edges but his bristly black mustache was a black as ever. "So good to see you again after all these years."

"Hmf...I honestly wish I could say the same for you...Alfred." Egon replied with a frown.

"Dr. Basingham...is all of your equipment packed away until you need it?" Samantha asked.

"It is my dear...no need to worry about that little...er...mishap." Basingham replied. At the table the man with the ledger let out a slightly too-loud laugh but quickly covered it up with a bout of fake coughing.

"Well...you must excuse me...Professor Spengler...Dr. Basingham...I am required in some areas before we can begin the conference...thank you for allowing us to rearrange the schedule Professor Spengler." Samantha replied and walked over toa group of technitions who were setting up some electrical equipment for the conference.

"So..._Professor_...Spengler...how are your Ghostbuster friends?" Basingham asked.

Chapter Ten

Sky News blared in the background as Peter climbed down the spiral staircase from having checked Egon's tests, above the sofa Slimer watched as the story ended.

__

"...and once again, here are today's top storys: President Bush will be reading to a class of Second Graders at the Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Florida as part of his promotion of a new bill on education...The British Couple, the Hamiltons who were accused off..."

Winston changed the channel...he knew most of the headlines at that point and decided to see if Ray's satellite dish had anything worth watching at that hour.

"Anything worth watching?" Peter asked as he approached the sofa, on the floor John and Eden were currently dismantling a toaster to Peter's amusement.

"Nothing really worth watching..." Winston replied. "Even the news isn't very exciting...just going over the election primaries."

"Gosh...Bloomburg vs Badillo Vs McShayne...that's gotta be a exciting fight." Peter replied sarcastically as Winston chuckled.

"It'll be hard to beat Lenny's turn...definately, McShayne's has left a bad taste in my mouth." Winston commented as Peter paused at the sofa and then walked off to the kitchen.

"Too right, you fancy anything to eat Winston? Everyone knows that half the stuff Ray makes isn't edible...I love the guy like a brother but half the stuff he claims are 'old Stants Family recipes' could be used to either insulate the Proton Packs or degrease the Ecto-2's engines." Winston chuckled.

"Nah...I'm fine Peter." Winston replied. Peter nodded and walked into the kitchen, only to find the fridge had been cleaned out...possibly when Slimer had the caffine in his system. "Oh you..." Peter muttered, he then exited the kitchen, snagged the phone from a wall mounted hook and dialled a numbed pencilled into a piece of paper which was placed in the phone's wall mount, which contained numbers for fast food joints, Chinese Restaurants and Pizza Parlours. He punched in the number marked as 'West Pier Pizza' and waited for the line to pick up on the other end.

"He kids...I'm buying...who wants pizza?" Peter asked, all three children looked up. "I'll take that as 'all of you'." He turned back to the phone. "Hey! West Pier Pizza? Yeah I'd like to place an order..." He covered the mouthpiece with his hand. "What do you kids want?"

"Anchovies." Eden replied.

"Cheese and tomato!" John yelled with a smile.

"Pineapple." Charlene replied.

"Better make that too." Winston decided, he ws gonna take the opportunity to take Peter's rarely seen generocity.

"Okay...that's a pepper and mushroom medium...a small margarita with anchovies...a small margarita...a small pineapple and a medium pineapple...oh and some garlic bread...uh-huh...one sec..." He put his hand over the mouth piece again. "Janine!" Peter shouted, adding a fake hint of anger to his voice.

"What'ya want Peter?!" Janine shouted back.

"Food...we're getting Pizza...you want anything?!" He shouted back, there was no reply from Janine but a few moments later she appeared at the top of the staircase.

"I'll take a small mushroom...trying to keep the calaries down." Janine replied.

"Right...bread equals Satan..." Peter turbed back to the phone. "And one small mushroom...yeah...uh-huh...you remember the Ghostbusters' Firehouse? Corner of Varrick and Moore...TriBeCa...right...okay...I'll hold you to that. Right...bye." Peter then hung up. "They get here in a half hour and we get out order free." Peter replied.

"Right." Winston replied.

"So what is this great feast in order of?" Janine asked as she walked over behind Winston to see what he was watching.

"Well...seeing as Slimer cleaned out the fridge there's nothing left to eat...though I know for a fact he's gonna be too full from eating all the foot to even want to go our the pizzas I've ordered...even Slimer can get sick from too much food."

"Yeah...don't remind me." Winston replied with a look of distaste on his face.

"Okay...well if anyone needs me I'll be downstairs...as usual." Janine replied. "You guys should think about getting a new receptionist...you never even hired me back."

"But you do such a good job...you handle the customers...keep the checks...who'd I get to carry the Ghost Traps to the basement!" Peter shouted over the railing with a smile on his face.

"Bite Me, Venkman." Janine shouted back.

"You ever get bored of ordering from 'West Pier anyway?" Winston asked. "We've been ordering from them for nearly twenty years...and I thought they'd gone outta business?"

"Are you kidding me? We're single-handedly keeping them IN business." Peter replied. "Speaking of business...where are the kids? And what's taking Ray...I know he has to go all the way up to Times Square but he's never this late."

"The kids don't have any calls this morning...and Fifth Avenue's a traffic nightmare this morning...besides it's only a little before half past eight...Ray's only been gone abour twenty minutes." Winston explained.

Chapter Eleven

Ray looked at his watch as he slotted several coins into a parking meter, it told him it was half past eight. Stood next to him was Eric and once he'd paid the total amount required for a half hour time slot they walked away and towards uptown. They moved among the crowds bustling to and from Times Square. Ray and Eric turned a corner onto 39th Street and walked down until they reach and entrance which led to a staircase. Above them stood Manhattan's best comic book and model figure emporium, Midtown Comics.

"Morning Dr. Stantz." One of the men at a desk which covered one corner of the room greeted.

"Morning Garth...have my orders come in yet?" Ray asked as Eric studied some of the videos on the opposite wall.

"Let me check." Garth replied and vanished beneath the desk for a few moments, he then reammerged with a box labled: **STANTZ**. "Alright Dr. Stantz...let's see what's in the box...oh yes! The last two issues of the new _Captain Steel _series...plus varient and painted covers..."

"Great!" Ray smiled behind his beard.

"...the latest edition of _Will Eisners Spirit Archives_, Volume 5...and _Daredevil_, No.23."

"Good to hear."

"And the DVD of _Transformers_ came in...still no word on the grapevine if anyone will put your show on DVD...though I'd keep a watch on Rhino and DVDtoons...you never know what they could do next." Garth replied.

"Thanks...I'll see you next month then." Ray replied as he paid for the comics.

"Not unless you stop by before then to have a look through the shelves of comics...or the toys upstairs." Garth replied with a smile. "See you later Dr. Stantz." Ray collected the bag of comics and DVD and then walked over to join Eric, he then knelt down so he could talk with Eric face to face.

"Find anything you want?" Ray asked, Eric shook his head and then Ray ruffled Eric's already decidedly wild hair. "I'm sure there'll be something you'll like sometime soon." Ray replied. "Want to go home now?"

"Okay." Eric replied and they exited the store and walked back to the car.

* * *

"Such a coincidence we'd see each other again after so many years Professor Spengler...how have you and your friends been doing since we last met?" Basingham asked with a mixture of amusement and quizzical questioning.

"As Venkman might say...we have been doing admirally well...all things considered of course." Egon replied as he narrowed his eyes slightly. Even against his better judgement there was nothing he despised more then somone claiming to be a man of science in order to line his own pocket by cheating people, such was the reason why he'd had a lot of problems with Charlie Venkman and how he had and still treated his son Peter.

"Well...it is good to hear you all are still in business...I haven't kept track since we last met." Basingham replied.

"A lot of things have happened since 1985, Alfred." Egon replied. "Peter, Ray, Winston and myself don't go out on standard busts like we used to any more, there is a new generation of Ghostbusters who do that." Egon explained. "However...this conversation seems a little one-sided...wouldn't you agree?" Egon asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Ah yes...of course...I have also been keeping myself busy...I am now Professor of Pranormal Research at a small institution in Tulsa." Basingham replied, it was a struggle for Egon not to laugh, or show some signs of amusement.

"How did you achieve such a...'influential' role?" Egon asked with another raised eyebrow and a non-impressed look.

"I would have you know...it was my part in studying the anchient language and the summoning ceremony that released that demon in the black ice that gave me the position I currently have as one of Oklahoma's leading paranormal researchers." Basingham replied proudly.

"Hob Anagarak." Egon replied. "Surprising...usually a large portfolio is required for a person to be able to take up a role such as that." Egon replied, remembering the portfolio he'd put together for his interview at New York City College. While he wouldn't admit it, he'd been more qualified then anyone else in the room, the protfolio alone would have made Egon's mentor, Proffessor Epimetheus proud.

"Indeed...apparantly I had enough experience with conjuration and from my own seance performance that I was the highest candidate." Basingham replied, once more adopting an air of pompous pride.

"Indeed." Egon replied, a hint of sarcasm in his voice. "So what brings you to the conference?"

"Well...apart from the possibility of running into one of my former 'friends'..." Egon coughed as he tired not to laugh again. "...I wanted to state some of my theories about ghostly phenominum."

"Indeed...it was...'interesting'...to meet you again Alfred...I need to get going."

"See you around Professor Spengler." Basingham replied as Egon walked away with a bad taste in his mouth. He checked his watch, it was eight thirty-two.

Chapter Twelve

Ray Stantz rested his arm on the driver side door again, heading back Downtown had been as lagging as heading to Midtown. He watched as the clock changed from eight thirty-four to eight thirty-five.

"I'm sorry this is taking so long Eric...we should've been halfway home by now." The traffic crawlled past 18th Street as they moved down Fourth Avenue, Ray was hoping to take Fourth Avenue down to China Town and then head West on Canal Street so he could avoid most of the traffic which had built up on Fifth and Sixth Avenues.

"It's okay dad." Eric replied as he looked through the copy of _Captain Steel _Ray had bought at Midtown Comics.

* * *

_Rinnnnnng._

Janine looked up from her work and scowled, she then decided it would be better for her concentration and hearing if she answered the phone.

"Ghostbusters...you spy 'em we fry 'em." She greeted. "Yeah? Uh-huh...ghost problem? Sure...we always deal with them...yes, you _have_ called the professionals..." She paused as she listened to the exasperated caller's voice, as she jotted down the details the caller was relaying to her she looked up at the glass case on the wall which covered a clock face and swining pendulum, the clock told her it was eight thirty-nine. "...it sounds to me sir like you have a poltergiest...and they're really bad...it is...they do...it did what? With your mother in laws--?! What? Okay sir...calm down...while we aren't open for another ten minutes, you will be our priority call today...just give me your address...okay... 152 Third Avenue...okay...as soon as we open for business a team will be despatched to your door as soon as possible." Janine replied and then rung off. She dropped the phone in it's cradle and snagged the small radio handset which linked to Ecto-1 CB.

"Firehouse to Ecto-1...Firehouse to in Ecto-1..." Janine let go of the button on the handset and waited for a reply over the static, there was no answer. She then pressed the button on the handset. "Ray can you hear me?" She said with a hint of anger in her voice.

__

"Sorry Janine...nearly broadsided a bus...what's the problem? Over." Ray's voice asked.

"We've just gotten a call...guy with what sounds like a poltergiest...the Ghostbusters are gonna need the car when they get in this morning." She explained. "Over." She hastilly added.

__

"We're moving as fast as we can out here...the traffic's a nightmare...I'm hoping to get back to the Firehouse a little after nine...the kids shouldn't be there before nine and they'll need to get ready anyway." Ray replied.

"Understood Ray...goodluck out there." Janine replied.

__

"Thanks...I may need it if the traffic at Cooper Square is snarled up with people going to New York University...over and out." Ray signed off and Janine placed the CB's handset back in the cradle which was mounted to the main bulk of the machine.

Chapter Thirteen

A clock mounted to the wall of the conference area informed the conference staff that it was eight fourty-one. Below them staff and office workers would be walking into the two towers to begin yet another work day.

"Professor Spengler...that was our Arkham participant...they're on a plane now from New England and are hoping to be here in a bit more then an hour...it means that you will definately be opening this year's conference with your talk, then a talk from Stanford University on magnetic fields and how they relate to paranormal entites...a short recess followed by a demonstration from Duke University and then the talk from our guest from Arkham." Samantha explained.

"Understood." Egon replied as he noted down the rearranged schedule of events.

"I need to go talk with the Astonics people doing the graphics...they say something's not going to work and the person who the graphics are for says it will...something like that." She replied with a smile.

"Yes...don't let me occupy your time." Egon replied with an amused smile. She nodded in thanks and walked over to a pair of workers with a pair of laptops who were arguing with a man with a white beard and tweed jacket which made the man look like the archetype of a college professor. Egon collected his suitcase and coat and walked over to a small table so he could study some of his notes which covered some paranormal incidents in England. Once satisfied he strode over to the windows which looked south from the tower, giving him an awe-inspiring view of lower Manhattan and New York bay, it was undoubtedly one of the more impressive places he'd been for a conference. Suddenly there was a loud booming noise from somewhere behind Egon and several startled gasps. He turned and for an moment his heart seemed to skip a beat. Tower 1, the North Tower of the World Trade Center was on fire, and even as he looked debris fell from the top floors as smoke and flames began to billow out of the broken windows.

"Holy Heisenburg." Egon stammered, terrified beyond rational thought, he never even noticed his briefcase fall to the floor.

* * *

Ray and Eric sat as the traffic moved through China Town. Thankfully enough the pace had picked up and they were near Canal Street. Ray looked out of the driver's window and spotted a a group of firemen inspecting a drain, a large red Fire Engine rig sat nearby with it's strobes going; filming the firemen were a group of people Way could assume was a group of documentary makers. He looked at the dashboard clock and sighed, it ready eight fourty-four. Suddenly there was a loud engine noise above them and both some of the Firemen and Ray looked up to see a 767 flying lower then it should've been over Downtown.

"Hrmm...that plane's too low..." Ray chasticed. He looked back to the traffic but was suddenly grabbed for attention by a loud bang which prompted a several of the Firemen to look up.

"Holy shit!" A Fireman swore as he pointed, Eric dropped the copy of Captain Steel as both he, Ray, the Firemen and people on the street started pointing, the low flying plane had flown straight into the North Tower of the World Trade Center, creating a fireball which died quickly.

* * *

"Where the hell is the pizza?" Peter asked as he consulted his watch, he'd put in the call nearly three quarters of an hour before.

"Hey...look on the bright side...least you get to have free pizza." Winston replied with a grin.

"It's not as enjoyable being free if it's also cold." Peter replied, he then walked over to one of the windows and slid it open, seeing if he could spot the delivery boy from the second floor, suddenly his attention was caught by a plane which roared almost directly overhead as it made it's way Downtown. "Say...even the pilots are wanting their lunch...look at that one!" Winston watched as the plane came into his line of view from the window near the front of the Firehouse and both he and Peter watched as it approached the financial District...

...and crashed into the North Tower.

"F--k." Peter replied suddenly startled. Winston, who normally would've been baring down on him for swearing in front of the children simply stood stunned.

"...guys? Guys!" Janine walked casually upstairs.

__

"...one moment..." The TV suddenly spoke.

"Guys?" Janine asked. The children were looking strangely at Peter and Winston who were staring at the windows facing towards Downtown, Peter's mouth was simply open with his jaw being as close to the floor as possible. Janine rolled her eyes and turned to follow their gaze. "What are you..." She stopped dead in her tracks.

__

"We are receiving un confirmed reports of a plane accident in New York..." The TV reported. Janine, like the two Ghostbusters, one ghost children in the Firehouse just stared at the sight unfolding before them. As New York woke up from it's slumber to a living nightmare, only eight minds were racing as to what had happened to Professor Egon Spengler who was in one of the towers of the World Trade Center.

**To Be Continued...**


	2. Chapter Two: Nightmare Awakening

All rights reserved to Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramis and Columbia Pictures. This follows year nineteen (2001) of the _Ghostbusters Omnibus Timeline_. Special recognition also goes to Rosey Collins and Fritz Baugh for their respective characters and creations. Gas Hunter is a registered trademark of Bacharach Inc.

Support the Twin Towers Fund and the NYPD FDNY Orphans and Widows fund.

"We must go on...."

**Black Day at the Firehouse - Nightmare Awakening**

Chapter One

_Tuesday September 11th, 2001_

_8:48AM_

_New York City_

Smoke, fire, sirens....

Egon blinked, the first real action he'd performed since seeing the flames and smoke pouring out of Tower 1 of the World Trade Center.

"My god..."

"What was it?"

"I think it was a plane."

Everyone in the conference had frozen when they'd first seen the scene which stood before them, for one reason or another the very top of the Northern tower was a mass of flames and smoke, intermitant with falling chuncks of debris. Egon couldn't be sure because a lot of the upper stories around the fire zone were now being obscurred by smoke, but it seemed that the fire was worst around the floros in the 93rd to 98th area. If it had been a plane then it had made a large impact. The people gathered at the conference were now coming out of the daze and for the first time Egon heard the siren which was blaring outside in the elevator lobby. He turned to see Samantha quickly walk up to the podium and grab the microphone from it's stand.

"Ladies and gentlemen can I have your attention...we are not sure of what has just happened but we will be evacuating the conference as quickly as possible. Please leave all of your bulky items behind until we are sure we can re-enter the building...please remain calm until we can begin the evacuation. I repeat...please remain calm." Even through she'd pleaded with the gathered conference members to remain calm it was evident on Samantha's face that she had been badly shaken. Egon, noting this walked over to her.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" He asked as he got to the point, no time for formalities. She looked at him for a few seconds but relief filled her eyes.

"Yes...thank you Professor Spengler...if you could get everyone to line up together...and get Mark! He's got the ledger that has the name of everyone involved...once we get down to the lobby we can perform a name check and make sure nobody is left inside." Samantha explained.

"Understood." Egon nodded and walked over to the podium. "Ladies and Gentlemen...would you please form a line at the exit and give your name to..." He looked at Samantha who looked back at him and then nodded in understanding.

"Richards." She replied quickly.

"...Mr. Richards who will keep a record of who is here...we will then exit the building as quickly as possible and meet up in the plaza outside...we will try to evacuate using the elevators." Egon instructed, he then walked over to the man known as Mark Richards as a line began to form by the door. "How many people are here?" Egon asked.

"Only twenty nine...including ten technical staff...Samantha...myself...you and Dr. Basingham and a few conference employees." Mark replied. "There would've been nearly a hundred people when this thing was meant to begin."

"Understood...do you have everyone's names?" Egon asked.

"Most peoples'...I'm just gonna get the conference workers and make sure I have everyone who's here noted as being here." Mark replied as he got up from the table.

"Excellent...we should try to leave within five minutes." Egon moved towards the front of the group. "When we leave we will attempt to evacuate using the elevators...however if those turn out to be too crowded we will make use of the stairs." Egon informed the crowd, he turned and opened the door leading into the foyer, people were running about as an emergency siren sounded. Above the door to the staircase a set of emergency lighting had gone on even though the ceiling flourescents were still buzzing. While he watched someone tapped him on his shoulder, it was Samantha.

"Let's get going..." She spoke and Egon nodded. "Please follow Professor Spengler to the elevator..." Egon heard her voice drift off as he made his way to the bank of elevators, followed by the conference attendees and workers.

* * *

Ray and Eric simply stared, nearby the Firemen and film makers charged back to the engine and moments after that, it's siren began to wail as they pulled away from the curb and shot down the street. The loud wailing pulled Ray out of his shock and he shifted Ecto-1's gear into first gear and hit the gas pedal, he turned on the car's siren as a means to clear the road as quickly as possible. Either side of his peripheral Ray could make out shapes running in the same direction he was driving, people were running to the World Trade Center. He turned the car onto the corner of Fourth Avenue and Canal Street as he made a beeline for the Firehouse, however he had to slam down hard on the brakes in order to avoid hitting the back of a taxi.

"Damn." Ray swore as he was sent forward by the momentum and then caught by his seatbelt.

_"Ray? Ray?! Can you hear me?" _Ray snagged the CB radio handset, nearly dropping it.

"What is it Janine?" Ray asked, keeping watch of both the road and the growing column of black smoke which made it's way slowly across southern Manhattan.

_"Did you just see what happened?" _Janine asked, her voice was noticably unsteady even over the radio.

"Janine...I'm on my way back...I'll try get there as soon as I can...but Janine...the traffic's jamming up...I'm having a hard time...god only knows what's happening to the emergency services getting down there..." Ray continued. "Janine...Egon's going to be fine...I know he is..." Ray replied.

_"I know what you're saying Ray...but I'm getting this horrible feeling something dreadful is going to happen..."_

"I'd say it's already happening." Ray muttered darkly. "We'd better get some stuff set up...get the generator ready just in case we suffer a power outtage..."

_"I'll get someone onto that...Ray...please be careful." _Janine replied.

"I will." Ray replied strongly and placed the radio handset back into it's cradle. He then reached back into the rear passenger compartment, and with some mild discomfort released a few clasps on a large box and removed something from it...which turned out to be a bullhorn. Eric looked at the large red and white bullhorn which was in Ray's left hand. "Looks like we've found a use for this afterall." Ray replied with a slight smirk which seemed oddly hollow at that moment. His face then changed to that of grim determination as he leaned his head out of the window, put the bullhorn to his lips and began to speak. _"Everyone get out of the way for the emergency services...let them through!" _He instructed as a Fire Engine and two Police Cars edged their way past.

* * *

Janine placed the handset back in it's cradle and walked back upstairs as CNN blared from the TV, on screen there was some slight static as a shot, obviously from a video camera showed a shot of a plane smashing into Tower 1, the shot then changed to a live footage of the upper portion of Tower 1 in flames. On the floor the children had been corralled and had descended into an eeiry silence. Stood as close to the window facing downtown were Winston and Peter, the former of which was studying the scene through a pair of ex-military issue binoculars.

_"...For our viewers who are just tuning in right now, you are looking at live picture of the World Trade Center tower, where, according to eyewitness Sean Murtagh -- he is the vice president of finance and eyewitness to what he describes as a twin-engine plane -- or possibly a 737 passenger jet -- flying into the World Trade Center. It appears to be still embedded inside the building...."_

Chapter Two

8:51AM

Ray finally pulled Ecto-1 into the Firehouse garage, jumping out of the driver's seat as the garage doors slid closed behind them. He and Eric quickly moved towards the staircase and took it two steps at a time to get up to the rec room.

"Has there been anything new yet?" He asked.

"Nothing yet." Janine replied. "They're still getting people out of the North Tower...more and more Policemen and Firemen have been heading down there..." She continued, Peter changed to the TV to NY1, a local news channel which had a reporter live at the scene.

_"This has to be the biggest coalition of FDNY Firemen and NYPD Officers in recent history! The problem is that most of them are having trouble getting through the small stairwells up to the fire...but there seems to be another problem...a lot of the Firemen are finding it difficult to get up to the floors in the one-hundreth region...the power is out in a lot of the North Tower and most of the elevators which reach the ground floor are either stuck or locked down in the lobby...this has to be the most terrible case of fire in recent history, and destruction of property since the terrorist bombings of the World Trade Center in 1993..." _He reporter paused for a bit to regain his breath. _"Fire Chiefs are advising that civilians keep back at least three blocks from the World Trade Center site to avoid falling debris from the impact site at the top of Tower 1...what...what is that?" _The reporter asked, indicating something off-screen. _"Can you get your camera on that?" _The camera whipped around to show the top of Tower 1 and it zoomed in to see something large and black falling, another thing like it fell a moment later. Once the camera had reached total zoom the people watching the televison could make out all to well what those large objects falling from Tower 1 were. _"Oh...oh god...get the camera away!" _The camera swung back to the reporter who looked a lot more pale. _"Ladies and gentlemen...in the persuit of the truth of the news we are also shown it's graphic story in detail...people are jumping from the upper stories of Tower 1 to...to...to escape the...the flames..."_

"Jesus." Winston quietly swore. The reporter appeared close to tears.

_"I'm sorry..." _He replied and pushed his way past the camera. Peter allowed himself to collapse onto the couch, his eyes were dark, a heavy contrast to his paling face.

* * *

8:51AM

Egon waited inside the elevator with ten other conference members including Samantha and Alfred Basingham, the total conference group had been split into three groups, the first with Egon and Samantha, the second with Mark and a Security Guard and the third led by one of Samantha's co-workers. They were scheduled to meed up on the Sky Lobby on the 77th Floor. As the elevator descended from the 110th floor to the 105th Egon listened to the sounds above and in front of them, at first he couldn't be sure if the talking was getting louder of if they'd finally turned off the alarm...much to Egon's dismay it was still blaring loudly. However he could hear a voice over the alarm.

_"...This building is stable, I repeat this building is stable. We have been asked not to evacuate WTC2 by the emrgency service. They need the space on the plaza for the people being evacuated from WTC1, so please stand still, note whichever floor you're on and re-enter the building at the nearest entry point..." _The voice was coming from a PA speaker placed in the roof of the elevator car.

"Crumbs." Egon muttered.

"Shouldn't we go back up?" Someone in the car asked.

"No." Egon replied sternly. "We will evacuate this building to ensure that there is no risk of any of you becoming injured in the unlikely event should the tower collapse and fall onto this one." Egon replied.

"The tower's gonna fall on us?" The man asked with a pale face.

"Don't be rediculous." A woman replied as she rolled her eyes.

"I won't lie that it isn't a possibility, but it is more important that we evacuate and meet up with the rest of the group." Egon narrowed his gaze at the man. "We will be leaving this building, all of us...now just remain calm, we'll be arriving at the Sky Lobby soon...then we can join up with the other conference members and leave the building." Egon replied.

"How long does it take to get out of this building?" Someone in the car asked.

"I've heard it's something like a half hour if you take one of the express elevators from the conference area...a little more if you take this elevator to the Sky Lobbies...and even longer on the stairs...it depends on which floor you're on." Samantha explained. Egon looked at the floor indicator, they were in the mid-90s.

Chapter Three

9:01AM

Peter and Ray stood on the roof of the Firehouse as they watched the scene from a better viewpoint then the rec room. Sat on the ledge of the roof was a radio that was blaring out the news reports that they already knew.

"I can't get over how unreal this is...it's like some action movie you'd see on Fox or something." Ray replied. In front of them stood the bulk of Tower 1, around Ray's neck hung the pair of binoculars that belonged to Winston. Peter looked over the edge of the building as a few Police Cars and a Fire Engine screamed by.

"I hate to say it..." Peter began. "But if someone was motivated enough they could do this...some people out there are just really sick puppies." He replied grimly.

"Yeah." Ray replied quietly and raised the binoculars to his eyes again. "Wait a minute..." Ray replied in a tone Peter didn't like.

"What's wrong?" He asked, his question was answered by a second explosion that erupted from the stainless steel cladding on Tower 2. "Shit!" He flinched.

* * *

"Hell!" Winston swore as the news caught a second explosion, this time in Tower 2, the South Tower. Janine, Slimer and the children just watched in shocked silence...one plane could've been accident...but two?

* * *

Egon and the other conference members braced themselves as the building suddenly shook, the lights above them flickered wildly as dust and light portions of debris fell from the ceiling as a deafening roar erupted from above.

"What the hell was that?" A man in a business suit asked. The lights continued to flicker as dust drifted past the windows of the Sky Lobby.

"Omigod...we've been hit!"

"Maybe the tower fell?"

"Carla, if you can hear me, I love you, tell Lucy and Sandra that..."

"...oh God. Mary, mother of grace..."

"We're getting out of here...now!" Egon instructed as he led people to the staircase as the elevators began to be swamped by the people in the Sky Lobby.

Chapter Four

9:03AM

Peter and Ray watched in stunned silence.

"That...was that a second plane?" Peter asked.

"It was." Ray replied darkly as he stiffled back a sniff.

* * *

The TV continued to broadcast, but Winston wasn't concentrating on the TV, he had the uncontrollable urge to get off the couch and get down to the World Trade Center...but he couldn't just leave Janine there. Janine, on the other hand who had remained mostly quiet since the first plane had hit, was wiping away a set of tears that had streaked down her cheek.

* * *

Peter looked back, blinking furiously to keep back the tears which were trying to force their way out of him, flying above the scene he could make out a helicopter.

_"...I repeat a second plane has crashed into the World Trade Center. NYPD and FDNY officials are at present working from an emergency center based in the lobby of one ot the towers, they intend to move onto a second emergency center set up at 75 Barclay Street. Mayor McShayne is also there with the Dupty Mayor and Police Chief..." _The radio continued to speak.

"Ray...do we know which tower Egon is in?" Peter asked.

"No idea Pete..." Ray then suddenly looked at Peter. "Peter...where are Dana, Oscar and Jessica?"

"Goddamn!" Peter flinched at the mention of his family. "They're out sightseeing...Dana said they might be going to the World Trade Center!" Peter pulled out a cell phone from his pocket and dialled the number he knew for Dana's phone.

_"...I'm sorry...all circuits are currently busy...please try again later..."_

"Shit." Peter replied and closed the phone. "Two-hundred dollar cell phone and the piece of junk doesn't work worth a damn." Peter replied in disgust.

Chapter Five

9:05AM

Egon led the group down the stairwell as quickly as they could, at present the staircase was fairly clear, but Egon didn't believe it would stay that way for long, at present they were passing the 75th Floor, he was hoping they could get out of the building before anything else happened, he didn't know how bad the damage was likely to be in Tower 1 and presumably Tower 2, but if there was even the slightest chance that there was structural damage to Tower 2 then they'd better get out as quickly as possible.

"Professor Spengler..." It was Samantha. "Do you think we'll be able to get out of this building?" She asked.

"I am positive we can evacuate within the hour..."

"We're not going to make it? Don't you understand!" Egon turned to see Alfred Basingham, petrified and his eyes full of terror.

"Keep going!" Egon instructed, Samantha nodded and they continued down. Egon then raised a hand and slapped Basingham across the face with the back of his hand. "Please remain quiet you fool or I will be forced to drop my obligation to follow the Hipacratic Oath, do you understand?" Egon asked.

"Ye...yes." Basingham replied as he held his face, shocked that he'd been struck.

"Excellent...now follow the others down the staircase." Egon instructed and Basingham obliged. Egon then made his way back to the front of the group and joined Samantha's side.

"There a problem?" Samantha asked.

"Nothing a small amount of force couldn't resolve." Egon replied as they climbed down to the 70th Floor.

* * *

Winston looked over the railing and into the garage below, Kylie, Garrett and Eduardo had arrived, minutes later Roland also arrived at the Firehouse as they made their way upstairs, Kylie, Eduardo and Roland taking the stairs while Garrett took the wheelchair elevator.

"You see this stuff on the news? It's totally whacked!" Eduardo replied as he gestured at the TV, Kylie elbowed him in the ribs.

"Would you shut up for a minute?" She hissed, she then turned her attention to the other occupants of the rec room as Eduardo nursed his bruised side. "Has there been any word from Professor Spengler? Or Dr. Venkman's family?" She asked.

"Damn!" Winston cursed. "Peter's family's out there as well!" He then looked at Kylie. "There's no word yet from Egon...we're hoping he's gotten out...but we haven't tried his cell phone yet."

"I'll do that." Kylie replied as she walked over to the entrance to the kitchen and studied the numbers scrawlled behind the plastic, including Egon's. She punched in the number and waited a few minutes before hanging up with a snort of disgust. "Circuits are jammed...everyone in the city must be calling the Towers."

"Where are Dr. Venkman and Dr. Stantz?" Roland asked.

"Up on the roof." Winston replied. "Somebody better go up there and tell them what's happening with Egon."

"I'll go." Roland replied and he vanished off in the direction of the spiral staircase to the third floor. Winston then looked at Eduardo.

"Any word from your brother?"

"Nah...he was at the station when all this went down...don't know if they'll send his precinct down there..." Eduardo replied as he flopped down on the couch. "Some loco people out there..."

"Yeah." Winston agreed, Kylie sat down next to Janine.

"Your husband's going to be fine...those Policemen and Firemen are the best in the country..." Kylie replied with a hesistant smile.

"Thanks." Janine replied even with tears in her eyes. "But I just don't want to think about losing him again after we got back together." She replied and was then given a reassuring hug from Kylie.

* * *

"We've tried to phone Professor Spengler...Kylie couldn't get though." Roland reported.

"Same here..." Peter replied as he indicated his cell phone which lay next to the radio. "Eveything's jammed."

"Will you be coming back inside?" Roland asked.

"In a few minutes..." Ray replied. "Does Eduardo...I'm assuming he's here now...does he know anything about his brother?"

"If Carl is heading down there then Eduardo doesn't know." Roland replied as he walked back to the entrance to the roof.

* * *

9:09AM

Egon looked up and they were passing 72nd Floor, he didn't know if travelling down three floors in four minutes was good or bad, but he hoped they could get out of the tower in case it did decide to collapse.

* * *

The gathered group of Ghostbusters simply sat in the rec room in the Second Floor of the Firehouse, watching as more smoke billowed out of the two towers.

Chapter Six

9:56AM

_Beep Beep. Beep Beep._

Peter lurched and grabbed his cell phone.

"Hello? Hello?!" Peter asked wildly.

_"Peter? I can barely hear you!" _It was Dana, her voice was quiet and static buzzed in the background.

"Dana...are you and the kids okay?" Peter asked, holding a hand against his left ear so the ambient noise of the rec room couldn't block out the sound of Dana's voice.

_"We're okay...we were in Battery Park City walking to the Twin Towers when it happened...we've been trying to get onto the Subway but the Police aren't letting anyone into the station..."_

"Dana...can you get a cab up here...or a bus?" Peter asked.

_"There's nothing moving on the streets...we're going to try walk back to the Firehouse..."_

"Dana...keep on this line...I'm gonna try head down there...take Sixth Avenue if you can..." Peter instructed as he grabbed a coat and made his way to the staircase. Suddenly there was a loud boom in the background static.

_"Peter!"_ Dana shouted before being cut off.

"Dana? Dana!" Peter shouted into the phone.

"Shit!" Garrett swore, Peter turned to see what had provoked the teen to swear. The top of the South Tower of the World Trade Center was vanishing in a huge ploom of smoke as the tower collapsed. Peter felt weak in the knees, his legs turning to jelly as he grabbed onto the railing and sat on the floor, dropping the cell phone which droned the dial tone.

* * *

9:53AM

He wasn't sure how they'd made it, but Egon was greatly relieved when he and the conference workers stumbled out of the stairwell and into the bright light of the Lobby of Tower 2.

"Everyone out! NOW!" Egon instructed and they made their way to the doors out of the building, passing Policemen, Firemen, EMT workers and injured people as they went, all around them swarmed logos and insignia belonging to the NYPD and FDNY. As he looked up he could see the large, two-story arched windows which let light into the Lobby, several of them were completely broken, their glass was spread like a carpet in the Lobby floor, reflecting the light from the ceiling lights above. Outside, paper and firey debris rained down from above as they approached the doors to the Plaza outside, the doors themselves were completely swamped, the process of evacuating was being hampered both by the bottle-neck action of the evacuation through the doors and the smoke which was plooming out of several open elevator shafts. As Egon moved slowly with the crowd he noticed other signs of damage, several large slabs of marble which were on the walls had shattered, presumably from the impact.

"Is everyone out of Cantor Fitzgerald?" A man in a dusty, bloodied business suit asked an equally dirty man in a Security Guard's uniform.

"Get out of the building sir!" The Guard replied. "We will try to find out who's still in the building once the floors below the impacts have been cleared!". The Security Guard then raised the radio to his mouth as he tried to contact somebody over the jammed airwaves. The velvet ropes which had marked out the line that Egon had stood in when entering the building lay on the floor, discarded as the Firemen had entered the building.

"Sir! Could your group follow me please? We're trying to evacuate people through Tower 1's Lobby!" A Security Guard shouted.

"Yes..." Egon nodded. He then indicated to Samantha who in turn indicated to Dr. Basingham and several other conference workers what was happening and they soon followed, walking towards a set of escalators which stood beneath a set of red banners which proclaimed: "Shop the World". The group descended the stopped escalators and made their way through the below ground Shopping Mall, just as a low rumbling and roar began to build, sending dust floating down from the ceiling.

"What's that?" Samantha asked as the lights began to flicker. The marble slabs bolted to the walls which hadn't broken began to vibrate as the rumbling grew steadily louder, several glass lamp cases and display cabinets crashed to the floor as the rumble and noise grew louder and stronger.

"Into the lower Mall!" The Guard shouted and they charged into the lower portion of the Mall, passing surprised people as they went, they ran into the entrance to a Subway Station just as something crashed down behind them, the lights flickered and went out as the group, led by Egon and the Security Guard crashed into something which might have been a person as they stumbled through the dark into a small hallway leading to the Subway Station, just as the last conference member entered the hallway the entrance fell apart, raining dust, concrete and broken glass down on them.

* * *

"It...it collapsed." Ray stifled, his face had gone deathly pale, the television screen broke into static for a few minutes but cleared up again once the rumbling had finished, leaving everyone in a startled silence.

"If Egon was in there..." Winston didn't finish.

"He'd be toast." Eduardo replied before receiving a very painful blow to his ribs again.

"Shut up knuckle-head!" Kylie hissed. "Are you the most insensitive man alive?" She gestured at Janine who seemed to be just holding back a waterfall of tears, she was breathing deeping and blinking furiously.

"Geez...sorry...I didn't think, okay?" Eduardo replied irritably but let the argument drop.

"Dr. Venkman?" Roland asked, he himself was straining to stop crying but he could see Peter slumped on the floor, looking dumbly at his cell phone.

"The line cut off...right when that building went down." Peter replied distantly.

"Dr. Venkman...is your family okay?" Roland asked, prompting Winston to look over at Peter.

"I...I have no idea..." Peter looked up at Roland, a lost expression on his face. "I may've lost four people I care about in one day." He then slumped back against the wall.

"How many people must've been working in that building at this hour?" Kylie asked.

"Too many to get out in time." Winston replied grimly. Slimer was now sniffeling loudly as he tried his best not to break into tears, he wasn't succeeding. Most of the group returned to watching the live broadcast of the remaining tower, Tower 1. The view then switched to a static-filled helicopter camera, depicting the roof and upper floors of Tower 1, the helicoptor pilot's voice was filled with shocked disbelief as he commented on the carnage he'd witnessed below.

_"...holy crap...the tower's down...holy god...the second tower's down..."_

Chapter Seven

The rumbling in the darkness died down and finally subsided, leaving in it's wake an eeiry silence. In the subway station the people had been jostled as if there'd been an earthquake. Dust drifted down and hung in the air as the lighting flickered back on, half the lights had been broken by, from the noise which the survivors were begining to piece together as a collapse.

"Is it over?" A business woman, hidden under a table in a nearby bar asked, a small chunk of debris startled her as it smashed into the table-top.

"I think so." A man in a dust-covered golf shirt stood up from under a news stand counter, several of his wares were on the tiled floor covered in dust and concrete. as they climbed out of their hiding places the survivors studied the collapsed entrance to the hallway.

"We're trapped!" A teen girl shouted as she tried to pry a chunk of concrete with metal poking from it out of the mass of rubble blocking the doorway, her attempt didn't succeed.

"What if this place collapses?" Basingham asked as he clutched to a table for dear life.

"I doubt it, this hallway and the station are built several hundred feet below the main plaza..." The Security Guard replied as he tugged at his tie, loosening the knot. "We should be safe down here until we can find a way out..."

"It would seem that the staircase back up to the shopping center is no longer an option." Egon agreed as he dusted off his suit as best he could. He inspected his glasses and found that the left lense of the wire rim spectacles had been cracked during the escape. "Darn." He muttered. Samantha walked towards the staircase with the Security Guard.

"Could I have your attention for a few minutes?" Samantha asked, the group then fell into silence. "At present one of the ways out has been blocked...however I doubt we are not the only people down here so we should see if anyone else was down here when...whatever happened, happened...would you please follow the instructions of..." She studied the Security Guard's nametag. "Mr. Stokes here and Professor Spengler...we will try to get out of here as soon as possible...but please be patient." She then guided the Security Guard over to Egon. "Until we've looked everywhere else...you two are the most senior people...I think we should stick together..."

"Yeah." The Security Guard replied.

"Agreed." Egon replied.

"Where should we look first?" The Security Guard asked.

"I'd suggest the subway station first, then make our way back here, checking each door and room as we go along." Egon suggested.

"Sounds good, let's go." The Security Guard replied and the moved off. "Oh...by the way, name's Andrew Stokes." The Security Guard offered a hand, Egon shook it.

"Egon Spengler, I wish the circumstances of our meeting could've been better." Egon replied as he shook the Security Guard's hand.

"Don't sweat it, had this thing not happened we may never have met." Andrew replied.

"A reasonable assumption." Egon agreed, the followed signs which indicated the way to the subway station, they leapt over a set of turnstiles to the sounds of on and you'll hit the underground mall." A voice explained.

"If you get topside, send some people down here...we may need help clearing people out in the Lobby." Egon and Andrew turned a corner and nearly barrelled into three civilians, a woman in a business suit, a woman in jeans and a T-shirt and a man in a subway worker's uniform.

"Woah!" The subway worker shouted in surprise.

"Watch where you're going." Egon replied sternly.

"Sorry, I didn't think anyone'd be going back this way." The Subway worker replied honestly.

"There isn't much point going that way," Stokes replied. "The mall's collapsed, no way out through the exit."

"So we're stuck?" The woman in the business suit asked.

"We don't know yet, however we need to find out how many people are down here before we can start planning anything..." Egon explained.

"Continue on through there," Andrew pointed back towards the people he and Egon had left. "There's a group of people through there who need help."

"Thanks." The younger woman in jeans replied as they continued on through the dusty passage as Egon and Andrew approached the station.

Chapter Eight

Egon and Andrew turned the corner, only to be confronted by a Policenman and a Fireman who were trying to pry a door out of it's frame.

"C'mon...it's almost there..." The Fireman grunted, then moments later the door popped out of it's frame.

"Anyone in here?!" The Policeman shouted as he shon his flashlight into the darkened room, nobody inside.

"Hey!" Andrew shouted, grabbing the pair's attention. The Fireman turned out to be a woman, around 30 years old with red hair tucked under her helmet, the Policeman was in his mid 20s with dark skin which betrayed his african origins.

"What are you doing coming back this way?" The cop asked. "Get out!"

"Can't, the entrance collapsed when the tower came down." Andrew replied.

"It came down? Jesus." The Firewoman replied as she removed her helmet and whiped a gloved hand across her brow.

"Okay," The cop replied as he immitated the gesture by removing his own peaked cap. "How many people are actually down here?"

"Including those three and excluding ourselves, I'd hazard a guess that there were around twenty people at the entrance to the passageway." Egon replied as he indicated the general direction of the entrance of the area which led to the Subway Station.

"Right." The Firewoman replied.

"Look, we were just about to check the platforms before you two came along, we may need some extra hands if there's a train in the station." The cop explained.

"Sure." Andrew replied.

"Lead the way." Egon replied and the followed the Firewoman and Policeman past a set of broken ticket machines and through a flickering corridor to a junction marked by two signs mounted to the wall, one sign declared: Southbound Platform, the other declared: Northbound Platform.

"We'll check the Southbound Platform first, then the Northbound." The Firewoman instructed.

"If I may ask a question, why aren't you with backup?" Egon asked.

"We were send down from the task centre in the South Lobby, some departments have been stretched out so thin that people are having to go in without their partners..." The Policeman explained, they then made their way to the Southbound Platform, which; apart from some large portions of rubble, was completely deserted. The Firewomen and the Policeman gave the platform, obvious and not-so obvious hiding places a quick check.

"Southbound's clean, let's check the North." The Firewoman replied and the Policeman agreed, the group then made their way to the Northbound, there wasn't a train in the station, but what they found made their collective hearts skip a beat. A large section of the southern end of the station had completely collapsed, blocking the entrance to the tunnel, above them several of the flourescents were out, their glass tubes shattered. Scattered all over the platform and tracks were broken glass and concrete.

"Damn." The Policeman swore. A sudden crackling above them drew their attention as a loudspeaker, hanging from the wall on a wire, spluttered to life:

_"Due to the events that are happening at the World Trade Center, all regular service has been suspended until further notice. Passengers taking the E Train on the Trans Hudson Communter Line will be disembarked at Chamber Street Subway Station and can take the A Train bound for Brooklyn, we apologise for the inconvienience this may cause."_

"Last thing I'd want to be doing right now is be riding the Subway." Andrew muttered. The Firewoman and Policeman repeated the search process in the Northbound Platform, careful to check under large collections of rubble and areas where holes had appeared in the walls, however the station was devoid of any people.

"Either the train just left or it hadn't arrived yet...I'd have hated it if we'd had a train full of injured people...especially if we're trapped down here." The Firewoman replied, a hint of a gruff Brooklyn accent working it's way into her voice.

* * *

With the group of survivors gathered in front of the stairwell to the mall the Policeman called for their attention.

"Okay," He began. "I don't know what you've been through upstairs and I can't pretend to know, what I do know is that we don't have many options on how to get out of here, the stairwell, as you can see is no longer accessable and I'm not willing to try risk getting people out along the tunnel."

"So how are we getting out?" The Newsstand operator asked.

"I was coming to that." The Policeman replied, flattening out his hands and lowering them to calm down the crowd as it began to raise it's voices. "There's a bar down here and there's the stuff at that newsstand, I say we collect it up and split it up into rations and eat as little as we can until they're able to dig through that rubble and get us out of here. What's important is that they will have people here to dig us out and remove the rubble...but only when they're sure that the area is safe...we should all be expecting to spend at least an few hours here...so try to get comfortable...if anyone has a cell phone then I suggest you try call out of here...see if you can get a signal...that's all for now." The Policeman replied, he then stepped down and walked over to the small group that was made up of Egon, Andrew, Samantha and the Firewoman. "Okay, what's the story?"

"About half of the people down here are from a conference I was responsible for organising." Samantha began. "Most of them were scientists...though Professor Spengler here may be better trained for something like this then the average student of the paranormal." She indicated Egon.

"Spengler? As in the Ghostbuster?" The cop asked, for the first time Egon was able to read the small nametag which was displayed beneath a set of multi-coloured commendations above the Policeman's silver badge, it read: Edwards.

"That would be correct." Egon replied.

"What sort of training do you have?" Officer Edwards asked.

"I have training in First Aid and CPR...as well as some other techniques."

"Anyone else here you know? They have any special training?" The Firewoman asked. Egon pushed his glasses back up his nose, one of the rubber braces was coming loose and allowing the wire-rims to slide down like his old red-rimmed glasses.

"The only man here that I personally know is Dr. Basingham over there." Egon explained as he pointed at Basingham who was slowly rocking himself on the dust-covered floor. "I highly doubt he has any specific _medical _training."

"Right..." The Firewoman replied.

"Seeing as we're gonna work on a first name basis." Andy began. "You know our names, what're yours?"

"Officer Richard Edwards of the 4th Precinct." Officer Edwards replied.

"Fire Marshal Jen Scully." The Firewoman replied.

"Now that the introductions are outta the way...I think we'll be needing some people to take charge whenever Ms. Scully and I aren't around...seeing as you two brought them down here, and that you have some medical training Dr. Spengler," Egon ignored the slip, such mistakes in stature were beneath him, though not beneath one of his colleagues, "and you seem to know this place, I'm putting you two in charge when we're not around."

"Right." Andy replied.

"Understood." Egon agreed.

"Okay, Professor Spengler," The Firewoman replied, giving Officer Edwards a slight knowing look. "I want you to go check everyone, see if they have any injuries...make sure to ask if anyone else has medical training...we'll need as much help as we can get down here." Egon nodded in understanding. "I want you," She pointed at Andy, "to go through that bar and that newsstand, grab whatever food you can find and put it in a box...we can then sort out rations later...also grab whatever you can that people can read, we're gonna need stuff to occupy our time down here. Once you have that stuff, bring it back here and we'll start discussing ration tactics...when to give people food...that stuff."

"Got it." Andy replied.

"Then later on we can try see if we can try get people's attention from down here." Officer Edwards replied, with that finished Egon and Andy moved off on their given tasks.

Chapter Nine

10:00AM

An eeiry silence had descended upon New York after the last of the rumbling at the World Trade Center had stopped, all over the city people had been stunned into silence at the events, in Times Square, the theatrical centre and neon heart of the city, the pedestrians and tourists alike had stopped to watch the events unfolding on the giant television screens, however they had been left in the stunned silence in the incapability to completely grasp what had happened, a terrorist attack so great that it had caused a sensory overload...nothing like this had ever happened.

* * *

10:03AM

_"...there are reports of a third air crash just outside of Pennsylvania..." _The radio droned. Everybody in the rec room, excluding Peter had their eyes locked on the television as it switched to a view of Downtown, half of which was covered in a huge cloud of dust from the recent collapse. Winston rubbed a hand across his eyes, this was too much, even for him, his stonic expression having been faltered by the tears which he tried to wipe away, he took a quick look away from the screen and saw Peter, sitting on the floor beside the staircase. He moved over, knelt down and shook the Ghostbuster's shoulder.

"Pete? Pete...c'mon...snap outta it."

"Winston?" Peter looked up suddenly, almost groggily. "God Winston...they're dead...aren't they?"

"Shut up man, you know better then this...we _don't _know that they're not still alive...you may be wanting to go on the guilt trip, but if you have to at least do it in another room for Janine's sake...you're not the only one to have someone loved out there somewhere and not know what's going on...take a number and go to the end of the line, the whole city's in the same boat..." Peter looked directly at Winston. "But we must try do something to help...we can use the PKEs to detect people's signatures...we can try go down there and help pull people out of the rubble...we can look for your kids, Dana _and _Egon...but we're not gonna get anything useful done if we mope around on the floor feeling sorry for ourselves." Winston finished, and Peter grimaced, he then gave the big, black Ghostbuster a wry grin, which faltered, Winston released a shaky chuckle.

"You're right..." Peter replied and he allowed Winston to help him up.

"I'll try get talking with Ray and then maybe phone someone in the NYPD...our experience has to count for something and they'll need as many hands as they can get once it's safe to go digging down there...but for now I think someone else needs you, Peter." Winston replied and nodded towards Janine, Peter nodded in agreement and began to walk over to sit next to her, his limbs felt like concrete and his knees still felt like jelly, but like Winston said, it was better then moping on the floor feeling sorry for himself when other people needed his talents. Winston watched Peter moved over to the couch and then sit down next to Janine, he then looked back at where Peter had been sitting, stooped down and picked up the abandoned cell phone, he put it to his ear and all he could hear was a clicking sound, the phone had gone off the dial-tone. Winston closed the phone and set it down on the dining table, there'd be time for it later if there was some hope that Dana had survived and would try phone Peter. Ray got up silently and vanished from the room, prompting a frown from Winston.

* * *

"Honey? I'm just calling...yeah...with all this stuff on TV I worried...yeah...I know I do that a lot...it's just good to hear your voice...though...I wish I could say the same for Peter...Dana and the kids are out there...he doesn't know where they are...I'll let you know as soon as we know...yeah...I will...stay safe...bye." Ray hung up and turned, to see Winston leaning on the staircase rail with one arm, which seemed to be propping himself up with a comfortable ease.

"Calling the missus?" Winston asked, a slight note of sympathy in his voice.

"Yeah...I just...dunno...I guess I thought I'd feel a bit better if I heard her voice...knew she was okay...gosh...I hope Dana and the kids are okay...we know how bad Peter moped around the first few weeks after they broke up...it'll kill him if they've...they've..." Ray faltered as he exited the gust bedroom.

"They'll be fine...I'm sure of it." Winston replied reassuringly as he descended the rest of the staircase. "And so will Egon, only man I know to confront the Boogieman single-handedly and to be able to think himself out of a near-disaster with rational thinking all the way through..." Even though he'd said it, something inside Winston twisted, somehow he couldn't totally believe his own words...

"Thanks." Ray replied with a strained smile.

"look," Winston continued, "I'm gonna try call the police...see if we can get down there...if we can we can get out every PKE Meter we own...even get Kylie and the others in...we can go down there and help dig people out..."

"Yeah...it's better then doing nothing." Ray replied.

"Though, we got to be here for Janine until we can go down there...maybe Peter...I just wish Egon was here...I mean, I can knock sense into him when it's needed...but I can't get into his head like Egon."

"Yeah...we'd better go join the kids...I can only hope most of them won't even remember seeing this happen...that they'll only know it when they learn it in textbooks..." Ray replied as they moved back towards the staircase.

"We can only hope." Winston agreed.

Chapter Ten

10:06AM

Egon studied the ankle of one of the survivors in the station.

"I believe it is twisted, not too serious, but I'd recommend you don't put any weight on it until we can get you to an authorized doctor." He informed the businesswoman who'd hidden in the bar during the collapse.

"Thanks". She replied witha grateful smile, but winced when she moved her ankle slightly. Egon then looked up as Andrew walked out of the bar carrying a large cardboard box.

"I found all this stuff in there...there's chips, chocolate bars, peanuts, bar snacks...the works...plus cola, mineral water...I thought it best to leave the booze in the bar." He reported.

"Good idea." Officer Edwards replied. "We might be able to use some of that and the mineral water to clean out any cuts we have...was there anything else?"

"There was a bunch of candles and glass holders, must've been for things like Valentine's Day...I didn't know if we could use them down here..."

"We'll go around...see if there's any gas leaking..." Marshal Scully replied. "If there's isn't any apparant gas leak then it should be safe to use candles...though I'll give the area a quick sweep with my Gas Hunter."

"Sounds good." Officer Edwards agreed, he then turned back to face Andrew. "Did you find anything else?"

"Well, there's mostly candy and chocolate bars at the newstand...nothing really note worthy...though I found some big flashlights in a store room at the back of the bar...they should come in handy if they have to cut the power."

"Yeah." Marshall Scully agreed.

"I found these in one of the service rooms, they're plans of the station and some of the nearby tunnels." Officer Edwards replied, holding a set of rolled up plans and a cardboard tube which probably contained them.

"Those should be great if they can't dig out the station entrance." Marshall Scully agreed. She accepted the plans and laid them out on an appropriated table. "There's obviously the main tunnel...here." She indicated the subway tunnel running towards the North of the plans, and presumably, the North of the city. "Looks like there's a passageway about two-hundred yards down the tunnel which links up to the next station..."

* * *

10:10AM

Eduardo and Kylie stood on the roof of the Firehouse, watching over the smoke cloud which shrouded the financial district. Kylie was hugging herself while he had an arm over he shoulder, hugging her.

"You think this was something we'd never see..." Kylie spoke quietly after a while.

"World's a crummy place, chica." Eduardo replied solemnly.

"Yeah...but have things gotten so bad that other humans are willing to do this? And for what? Saying who should run the planet?" Kylie asked.

"Humans are great at destorying themselves." Eduardo added, causing Kylie to look up at him with a quizzical look which wouldn't be a stone's throw from the one usually seen on her black and white cat, Pagen.

"That's a little profound for you, isn't it?" She asked.

"Hey...it's like Peter...I act dumb some people don't second guess me." Eduardo replied.

"Yeah...but the secret is not to let the 'dumb' part get too realistic." She smiled despite herself. They remained in silence for several more minutes.

"You think we should go down there?" He asked.

"I don't know..." She frowned. "The people who should be down there are there. We'll just have to wait until this is over."

"You think...we're gonna have to go clean the place out...afterwards?" Eduardo asked. Kylie shivered at the thought.

"I hope not...that place is just going to feel..._wrong_." Kylie replied. "Eduardo...if I was ever caught up in something...like this...you'd tell Conchita...right?"

"What are you talking about?" Eduardo narrowed his eyes.

"If I was ever caught up something like this...and didn't come home...you'd tell Conchita, right? You wouldn't feed her something my mom might've fed me if Dad had left before she did..."

"Well...I...um..." He replied hestantly. "I don't know..." He added, scratching the back of his head.

"Promise me...if one day I don't come home...tell Conchita...I don't want my daughter thinking I could be coming back when I'm not."

After a while, Eduardo finally replied:

"I will."

They both looked back towards the remaining tower as a low rumble began to build.

10:28AM

Egon, Andrew, Officer Edwards and Marshal Scully looked up as the rumble grew louder and yet more dust trailed down, moments before they ducked for cover the room was plunged into darkness once again. Eventually the rumble and shaking subsided and they were able to pull themselves up, only to stand in perfect darkness, a darkness which was eventually shattered first by the pierce of a brilliant white light. Egon blinked several times and then looked at Officer Edwards, the brilliant white light had come from a Maglite which had been clipped to the Policeman's belt.

"Is everyone okay?" Officer Edwards shouted into the darkness. After a few moments he recieved replies from the other people in the immediate area, mercifully nobody had been injured during whatever had happened above. Just as Officer Edwards was disentangling himself from one of the people he'd been sheilding, a muted, dull light suddenly flared up, casting a dull glow over the room...

"The emergency lighting?" Andrew asked in surprise.

"There must've been a power outtage...whatever just happened up there must've knocked out the power..." The subway worker replied.

* * *

10:28AM

On TV, everyone present inside the Firehouse watched as the roof of Tower 1 suddenly caved in and the tower fell as if it were a house of cards, sending up an almighty cloud of dust which shrouded the southern tip of Manhattan. The World Trade Center had been totally destroyed.

"Egon..." Janine choked, it was all she could say as tears streamed down her cheeks, it was terrible enough to think that she may have lost her husband after they'd been so much, but it would break her heart to try explain it to her children that their father wouldn't be coming home...

The children.

Janine looked down at the Twins, they'd been sat on the floor in complete silence since the chain of events had begun, they hadn't uttered a single word since the first plane...did they know what was happening? Did they understand. As if sensing her thoughts, Johnathan Christopher turned to face his mother, a expression of sheer puzzlement mixed with sadness was on his face.

"Are those people gonna be okay?" He asked, and in that moment her heart skipped a beat, the children were all so naive...they had no idea they'd just witnessed what could be one of the biggest national disasters the world had seen...what can you say that will even begin to make them understand?

"I...I don't know Johnathan...I don't know if they would've had time to get everyone out of the buildings..." Janine began.

"Is Father still there?" Eden asked.

"I hope not...I really...hope he wasn't..." She then got up from the sofa and left the room, closely followed by Peter and Ray and Winston's gaze.

* * *

Janine quickly moved down the staircase and headed for her desk.

"Janine! Wait!" Peter shouted as he followed. A few moments after that Ray and Winston had appeared on the staircase in persuit. Peter, against better judgement grabbed the staircase railing and leapt over it before he reached the bottom, he hit the floor and staggered until he could grab the desk to steady himself. "Where are you going?"

"I don't know Peter...I just need to get out..."

"And just leave your kids here?" Peter asked.

"What can I do? Tell them their father's dead...that he died without the comfort of being with his friends and family?" Janine replied in anger, but it was an anger that was born out of the utter grief she was feeling, Peter noted, it must be.

"We have no idea that Egon's dead...for all we know he's alive...that his cab got stuck in traffic...or maybe the elevators broke down and they had to keep people out of the building..." Peter began.

"Save your psychoanalysis bullshit for some other time Venkman." Janine replied venomously. "Just leave me alone."

"No I won't," Peter replied as he grabbed her shoulder and span her around to face him. "You are not going out there while you're like this, I'm not having you wandering about when both my best friend, my wife and my kids are out there in god knows what..."

"Let go of me!" Janine persisted.

"I didn't want to do this..." Peter slapped her across the face with the back of his hand, hoping the shock would knock her out of the sudden irrationality. She held onto her face with an expression of horror. "Janine, I...I didn't mean it--" He was cut short as she sent a left hook across his jaw, the punch caught him off-guard and he tumbled to the floor.

"That's enough!" Winston charged into the scene. "As fun as it usually is to see you decking Peter this needs to stop. Now." Winston replied in a heavy tone. Janine just stood there, looking at the floor as she began to realise what she'd done.

"I just can't stand the thought of losing him again." She replied in a quiet voice, she then sat down and began to cry as her hold on her emotions finally broke. Peter, who'd only suffered a split lip wiped away the rest of the blood knelt down beside and placed a comforting arm across her shoulders, Ray and Winston also knelt down to face Janine.

"Janine...we know how much you and Egon have been through...God knows I'd made it my own vendetta against him because of what happened back in '96...I've had to witness everything you two went through from day one...from when we stopped Gozer...up to the Lotsabucks thing and the accident...we've all seen the best and worst of how things have happened...but it's not fair on Egon to just give him up for dead...I know the big guy's not gonna go down without a mighty fight...this guy hasn't beaten Gozer, the Boogieman and had one of the most long to start relationships simply to be killed in this thing..." Peter found himself talking, right now this was the real Peter Venkman, the professional who cared for the welfare of others above his own.

"But what if he's been killed by this thing...Peter? Don't kid yourself that you haven't thought about it...it's always possible that he's gone...and how do I tell Johnathan and Eden that their father won't be coming home? Do they even realise what's happening?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Peter replied.

"Gosh Janine...we're always here if you need us..." Ray added.

"Definately m'man." Winston agreed. "We've always been here for each other before, why stop now?"

"Will you be going outside?" Peter asked.

"No." Janine replied, despite the tears that she was trying to wipe away there was an edge in her voice which had understood what they'd said.

"Good...I'm gonna go try Egon and Dana's cell phones again...maybe the lines'll be a little bit less cluttered." Peter replied as he began to moved but led Ray along to the staircase and stopped short of dragging him up it. "Watch her...don't even let her put on lipstick...she starts acting weird...let me or Winston know."

"Sure, Peter." Ray replied, and Peter could see that Ray's eyes were turning red, it looked like he was about to break down himself. Peter gave the bearded ghostbuster a reasurring hug and then climbed back up the staircase. As he re-entered the room the younger generation of Ghostbusters turned to look at him, most of them wearing expressions of worry or concern, evidently they'd heard the shouting...not too hard with all the open spaces leading to the garage bay.

"Everything's okay...for now." He replied, he then made his way to the iron spiral staircase which stood near the middle of the building but he paused in mid-stride, he could just see the cover of dust which was now filling the view from the window, the collapse of the World Trade Center had kicked up an enormous dust cloud. He eventually pulled himself out of simply watching the dust drift across the buildings and climbed the staircase to the third floor landing, he looked around and decided the Lab would be his best choice, there might be a phone in Egon and Janine's room, but it didn't feel right to be going in there, besides, the Lab would be private enough with the double doors closed and locked. He walked over to the Lab doors, opened one of them, slid inside and closed it behind him, careful to turn the lock beneath the handle to prevent anyone interrupting him by accident.

Chapter Eleven

10:39AM

The room and air were still hazy with the newly fallen dust, but it seemed that the rumbling had finished, the survivors in the subway station were now starting to set up anything they could find to make their stay a little more bareable until they could leave. Most of the furniture in the bar had been brought out, the tables and chairs were set up so that there were singles and doubles, in case anyone wanted to try get some sleep. All of the candles had been set up, after Marshal Scully had taken a quick check to see that there wasn't any leaking gas. Officer Edwards had watched over the ration selection, making sure that there wasn't any type of imbalance or too much getting put into that day's rations, they could be there for some time. Egon, on the other hand, with having checked everyone for injuries, was sat on the floor in a small huddle of survivors, some of which were crying, others who were shaking and a few who were trying to use their cell phones to call out into the world above, they were getting very few results.

"...I guess the funny side of this is..." The female business woman spoke up. "I wasn't even supposed to be in work today...they had a problem and called me in on my day off." Egon looked up at a businessman across the group from him, Basingham was sat beside him looking glum as ever, but something the businessman wore brought out Egon's interest.

"Excuse me sir, but I couldn't help noticing...those glasses...where did you get them?" Egon asked, the businessman looked up, frowned and fingered the red rimmed glasses with round lenses.

"These?" He asked, removing them for a bit. "I got them from Manheims Opticians on 33rd and Second Avenue...they've been producing a lot of sets which had been discontinued...these are one of them...why do you ask?"

"I used to have a pair like them, I had to change because they stopped producing the brand." Egon explained.

"Well, I guess once we get out of here, you'll be able to start getting them again." The businessman replied with a strained smile.

"Quite." Egon mused.

"Professor Spengler, a moment of your time, please." Officer Edwards asked.

"Of course." Egon nodded, he excused himself and followed the police officer, and was then quickly persued by Basingham.

"What about me? Can't I do something?"

"Can you?" Officer Edwards asked skeptically.

"Well...err...I can call on the spirits...evoke anchient deities..." Basingham replied.

"Sit down, and shut up." Officer Edwards replied irritably and Basingham obliged.

"What do you need me for?" Egon asked as they approached the table where the subway worker, Marshal Scully, Andrew and Samantha were gathered, they appeared to be discussing something of great importance when Officer Edwards arrived with Egon.

"We've been talking it over...and we've decided we're not gonna wait here more then a few days, it'll give them a chance to dig us out through the main entrance." The subway worker explained.

"If not, we can always go through the tunnels to the next station." Andrew added.

"Usually I wouldn't advise it." Marshal Scully intoned. "But if the main power is offline then it may be safe to walk through the tunnel, I don't like the idea of it, though."

"Nobody was expecting you to." Officer Edwards replied grimly. "Is there anything else we should expect?"

"Well, there's even if there isn't a train in the station, there might be one stuck in the tunnel...I don't really know." The subway worker shrugged. "There's also the third rail...sure, the power's off for now, but we don't know how long it will remain off." he took a moment to study the plans. "And then there's the problem of a possible collapse, part of that tunnel's come down...and those girders were sticking through solid concrete...if anything else collapses we could be in very serious trouble, and I'm not talking about getting crushed."

"Yeah..." Andrew took over, gesturing at a set of plans showing the subterrianian levels of the complex. "All this is built into a 'basin'...if it were damaged we'd be getting several hundred gallons of East River's finest flowing in here."

"Which means we have a very small window of time to work with." Marshal Scully agreed. "We leave too soon, we could be missed, or get lost...too late and we're either crushed or flooded."

"So we must remain here only for as few days as possible." Egon mused. "I'd hazard a guess of around three days or so, if the rubble can be dug out, that should be adequate time to allow any emergency workers to do so, if not, we can still leave via the Subway tunnel."

"Sounds good." Officer Edwards nodded. "We'd better start finding things to help people get to sleep, it's gonna be rough down here for the next few days."

Chapter Twelve

10:49AM

_"...We are still not receiving any new word on the air crash in Shanksville, Pennslyvania. At this time authorities are investigating the incident but are not ruling out the possibility that the crash of United Airlines 93 is directly linked to the events which have been caused by possible terrorists on flights 11 and 175 in New York and 77 in Washington DC. The President, has been kept informed and has been in talks since the series of events began two hours ago..." _The sobre-faced NY1 newscaster reported. An eeiry silence had filled every inch of the Firehouse once the collapse of Tower 1 had finished, Janine sat behind her children, her eyes were bloodshot but she was keeping a tight hold on her emotions, she needed to be strong. Peter dialled Dana's cell number on his own phone, muttering quietly when he couldn't get through.

"Signals are probably all screwed up with all the radio traffic and the damaged transmitters." Winston spoke quietly.

"Yeah..." Peter replied dully. "I just...I need to get down there...if they're okay then they're probably in the thick of it...I need to go find them, Winston." Peter near pleaded.

"The time'll come m'man." Winston added, give Peter a quick clap on the shoulder as he walked off.

"You'd better try phone Kaila...tell her you're all right." Peter returned.

"I'll go do that." Winston replied with a dry smile, he then turned and made his way to the spiral staircase. Peter shook his head and walked over to one of the sash windows set into the side of the building, he slid it open and peered out, leaning on the window sil. There was a light breeze blowing down the street and in the distance he could see that the street ended abruptly with a large, dirty-brown cloud. On the street people were running from and too the scene, along with emergency vehicles which still screamed by every now and then. Peter continued to watch, loosing track of time as he watched the emergency vehicles scream towards Downtown while people ran towards Uptown.

_"...It has been officially announced that the New York 2001 Mayorial Primaries will be postponed until further notice, further more, the Government is ordering evacuations on the nation's tallest buildings while tourist attractions such as Seattle's Space Needle, the Liberty Bell, Walt Disney World and the Statue of liberty in New York harbour..." _Peter turned and glanced at his watch, it was now eleven 'o' clock in the morning, so much had already gone on and it was only three hours into the working day. Peter turned and walked towards the staircase, he decided there was at least one thing he could do until the airwaves cleared or they were allowed down to the World Trade Center site.

_

* * *

_

"You've reached the Ghostbusters, all business is suspended until further notice, if you have a ghost which has a description matching anything bigger then a Class Seven...that's a demon, then please leave your details and a description...if you have any information on the whereabouts of either Egon Spengler, Dana, Oscar or Jessica Venkman, please leave a message after the beep." "Beep."

_To Be Concluded..._


End file.
